Business Development Project Management
Resume:
Dr. Charles Ufongene
Senior Consultant
***************@*********.*** • 860-***-****
LinkedIn • Connecticut
Accomplished and results-driven professional with proven track record in delivering strategic solutions aimed at enhancing business growth and operational efficiency. Expert in strategy and management consulting, business development, cost and network modeling, program/project management, competitive assessments, and market analysis. Adept at leading cross-functional teams on complex projects by leveraging deep industry knowledge to streamline processes and drive measurable performance improvements. Skilled in developing actionable insights, implementing innovative strategies, and ensuring alignment with client objectives to deliver exceptional value. Known for strong client relationship management, change management expertise, and providing transformative initiatives across technology and finance. Proficient in network architecture, data communication protocols, and infrastructure management.
Areas of Expertise
• Strategic Planning & Execution
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Technology & Operations Strategy
• Business Analysis & Problem Solving
• Technology Employment & Integration
• Team Building & Leadership
• Data-Driven Decision Making
• Financial Modeling & Analysis
• Client Relationship Management
• Technology & Operations
Strategy
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Project Planning & Control
• LEAN Enterprise Principles
• Project Management &
Delivery
• Client Relationship
Management
Professional Experience
Independent Telecommunications Consultant 2024 – Present Director
Develop software tools and models to support planning and cost analysis of FTTH (Fiber-To-The-Home) access network architectures. Conduct comprehensive business-case evaluations to estimate detailed, end-to-end costs of FTTx networks from OLT to subscriber premises. Generate precise Bills of Material (BoMs), detailing quantities of all required network components, including Outside Plant (OSP) elements. Key Assignments:
● Enhanced network design efficiency through advanced cost optimization methodologies.
● Supported competitive contract bidding processes by delivering accurate cost assessments and material specifications.
Ciena Corporation, Remote, Vernon, CT 2015 – 2024
Consultant Solutions
Spearheaded marketing and technical sales initiatives aimed at driving business development through financial modeling, strategic planning, technology evaluation, and comprehensive TCO and ROI analyses. Key Assignments:
● Ciena Integrated C&L-Band Solution Business Case Consulting Project: Created multi-year Excel-based business case model to support Ciena customers in identifying cost-effective, optimal network architectures while comparing CAPEX and OPEX for short, mid, and long-haul networks. Coordinated with cross-functional stakeholders to design financial models incorporating Time Value of Money (TVM) analysis, evaluating Ciena’s WaveLogic systems and comparing various C&L-band architectures.
o Results: Achieved a 23% and 66% cost advantage over C-band Only and Modular C+L-band architectures by demonstrating through modeling that the Ciena Integrated C&L-band solution offers superior scalability and cost-efficiency at higher network capacities, making it the best long-term investment despite being marginally more expensive at lower capacities.
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o Business Impact: Developed a key insight through advanced modeling, driving Ciena’s Integrated C&L- band solution sales, securing hundreds of new customers across CSPs, Hyperscalers, MSOs, OTTs, and Enterprises, generating millions in revenue and contributing to Ciena white paper publications. Links: 1, 2
● Spectrum/Wavelength Service Business Case Model Consulting Project: Created a business case model and monetization strategy to evaluate three operational scenarios for CSPs to retain Hyperscaler customers, comparing 100G waves service, spectrum/wavelength, and DIY with dark fiber. o Results: Achieved 44% CSP revenue retention (up from 18-19%) by developing Excel-based Monetization
& Strategic Pricing models that demonstrated offering Spectrum/Wavelength services as a competitive alternative to DIY, while also shifting terminal costs to Hyperscalers, reducing CSP investment. o Business Impact: Ciena Sales and Marketing teams used the models in customer engagements, resulting in several contract wins and publication of Ciena white papers. Links: 1, 2
● Bell Canada / TELMEX OTT Video Traffic Monetization Model Consulting Project: Created value proposition enabling Bell Canada and TELMEX to monetize OTT video traffic, overseeing adaptive congestion management modeling and conducting strategic international stakeholder meetings. o Results: Achieved 58% cost savings over five years, improved QoE, and boosted retention and revenue by proposing OTT peering via Direct Connects and Edge Caching and modeling analytics-driven congestion management strategy.
o Business Impact: Transformed OTT traffic challenges into growth opportunities by designing strategic roadmap for Bell Canada and TELMEX, shifting from reactive cost models to proactive revenue strategies; culminated in Ciena white paper publication. Link: 1
● 5G MEC Business Case Model for AR/VR Consulting Project: Created 5G Mobile Edge Compute (MEC) model to assess GPU processing demands (GFLOPS) for leading Wireless Network Operator serving approximately 80 million customers to facilitate Augmented/Virtual Reality (AR/VR) experiences across 382 MSAs and 2,600 CORDs at Basic/Minimal Immersive and Full Immersive levels. o Results: Developed model that quantified processing and compute requirements, revealing that mobile devices with SoC support 500 GPU GFLOPS, while tethered premium PC-connected Full Immersive AR/VR experiences demand 6,000 GFLOPS and Basic/Minimal Immersive AR/VR experiences require 3,500 GFLOPS of PC GPU performance.
o Business Impact: Delivered critical insights through model for network capacity planning aimed at enabling operator to evaluate economics of infrastructure investment and ensure delivery of AR/VR experiences with minimal latency.
● Sustainability/ESG Model Consulting Project: Collaborated with cross-functional teams, including VPs, Directors, and Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) from Product Development, PLM, Systems Engineering, Sales & Marketing, and Strategy, to create models analyzing millions of shipment records for Ciena WaveLogic systems (WL3, WL4, WLAi, WL5e) over 10-year span. Analyzed vast datasets to measure and quantify power and weight efficiencies
(Watts/Gbps, Kg/Gbps) across different generations of Ciena WaveLogic systems. Assessed impact of technological advancements on power and weight efficiencies to enable comprehensive understanding of innovations across decade.
o Results: Achieved $94.3M in OPEX savings and avoided 5.4 million metric tons of CO emissions over 10 years by improving power and weight efficiency, with quarterly updates to models used by Sales, Marketing, and PLM for customer engagements.
o Business Impact: Delivered data-driven validation of Ciena’s sustainability initiatives to enhance brand credibility and reinforce alignment with client environmental objectives to improve market positioning and strengthen customer engagement.
● PON FTTH Broadband Access Network Architectures Model Consulting Project: Designed comprehensive network financial models evaluating business cases for Ciena’s broadband access solutions, quantifying multi-million-dollar cost efficiencies for CSPs, hyperscalers, and MSOs implementing 10G XGS-PON systems. Developed targeted financial models for PON business scenarios supporting Ciena’s 10G XGS-PON strategy for CSP deployments and RDOF-aligned adoption by cable multisystem operators (MSOs). o Results: Applied network cost and ROI analysis model to Ciena’s 10G XGS PON system, demonstrating OSP CAPEX savings through remote OLT deployment to mitigate fiber exhaustion on constrained routes, which contributed to published Ciena white papers. Link: 1 Google Inc., Mountain View, CA 2012 – 2014
Finance Manager
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Created cost analysis models to evaluate Company’s network performance. Conducted comprehensive quantitative and qualitative assessments of business plans for Company's network. Identified key risk factors within business plan assumptions and formulated risk mitigation strategies. Utilized network data to analyze Company’s Fiber Optic Networks and project future capacity growth trends along with related costs. Collaborated with PMO to assess costs associated with projects involving construction, upgrading, and expansion of GTR (Google Transport Records) Fiber Optic links between locations.
Additional Experience
Avionics Systems Engineer United Technologies, CT Director Independent Telecommunications Consultant Manager, Product Realization Strategy; Manager, Broadband Access Networks, Offer Manager, 3G UMTS Wireless Networks Lucent Technologies, NJ
Product Manager, Optical Access Systems Ant Bosch Telecom, Germany Doctoral Research Fellow France Telecom R & D Center, Paris, France Education
Master of Science (SM), Engineering and Management (Technical MBA Equivalent) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA
Master of Science, Physics – Specialization in Photonic Systems University of Strasbourg I (Louis Pasteur), France Certification
Graduate Certificate in Systems Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA Certificate in French Language Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l’État, Lyon, France Technical Proficiencies
Microsoft Project Management Primavera Network-based Modeling DWDM/CWDM, C-band, L-band, C&L-band, Super C- and Super-L-band Business Case Modeling Passive Optical Networks (PON) Modeling Tools Power Consumption Modeling of Optical Systems in Data Centers Post-quantum Cryptography (PQC) Tools Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) Technologies Excel VBA C#
Languages
French: Fluent German: Basic
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