Here are some of the latest executive hirings, promotions, and staff changes that occurred during January 2017. If you’d like SDxCentral to report on your company’s movers and shakers, or if you've got a tip about layoffs and restructuring, please send the information to Wyatt Carlson ([email protected]).

Microsoft has named Kevin Scott to the company’s newly created role of chief technology officer (CTO). Scott’s new role with Microsoft is an expansion of what he did at LinkedIn where he was senior vice president of infrastructure. Microsoft acquired LinkedIn last December in a transaction valued at $26.2 billion.

As Microsoft’s CTO, Scott will be reporting to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. He will continue to serve as an executive member of LinkedIn’s management team.

Before joining LinkedIn and Microsoft, Scott served multiple engineering positions at companies like Google and AdMob.

Sprint announced that Néstor Cano will be joining the company’s newly created position of chief operating officer where he will be responsible for overseeing operations, reducing expenses, and strengthening systems and processes across the business. His appointment is effective Feb. 2 and he will report to Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure. The company said that it would cut more than $2 billion in costs by the end of fiscal year 2016, Reuters reported.

Cano’s new role is not to be confused with Günther Ottendorfer’s role as COO of Technology with Sprint.

Most recently, Cano was president of European Operations at Tech Data, a distributor of IT products and services. He also served other executive roles at the company, helping with management processes.

Ciena announced that François Locoh-Donou is stepping down as the company’s senior vice president and chief operating officer (COO), effective on or about March 23. Locoh-Donou has been COO since November 2015, and joined Ciena in 2002, working in several leadership positions.

The company has not indicated why Locoh-Donou decided to step down. The company has also not announced a replacement.

Locoh-Donou previously served as the company’s senior vice president of its global products group, VP and GM of the company’s EMEA region, VP of international sales, and VP of global marketing, marking over 14 years with the company.

Dan Warren was appointed head of 5G research at the Samsung R&D Institute in the U.K. In his new role, Warren will be leading a team that is contributing to European Union (EU) projects including METIS, Fantastic 5G, and mmMAGIC, which all fall under the wider 5G-PPP and 5G-IA programs, Warren told SDxCentral in an email.

Warren and his team will  also contribute to the 3GPP standards, specifically on the radio interface work. Samsung has multiple R&D Institutes working on 5G, but Warren’s is focused on advocating for 5G into European forums.

Before joining Samsung Warren spent over a year working at Capita, a business process outsourcing company. Warren also spent over five years at GSMA as its senior director of technology, leading projects like Voice over LTE (VoLTE), WiFi calling, and IP-service suites. He has also held senior positions with companies like Vodafone and Nortel.

Allot Communications named Erez Antebi president and CEO of the company, replacing Andrei Elefant. Elefant will assist Antebi during the transition period and will continue to serve as the company’s CSO.

Former GE Power CIO Clay Johnson was hired by Walmart to be the company’s chief information officer and executive vice president for global business services.

Internet of Things (IoT) device manufacturer MultiTech appointed Gregor Bleimann as president of its subsidiary company, Connected Development.

Numerex fired Marc Zoints as CEO. His termination was not related to any company accounting, internal controls, or financial reporting, the company said. Kenneth Gayron will serve as the company’s interim CEO until Numerex can find a permanent replacement.

Qualcomm hired Larry Paulson to serve as the company’s vice president and president of Qualcomm India. His appointment is effective immediately and he will report to Jim Cathey, senior vice president and president of Asia Pacific and India.

Zentera announced that Rebecca Bace joined the company’s technical advisory board where she will advise Zentera on security industry trends, strategy, and architecture.

Rachel Lam will step down from her role as senior vice president of Time Warner Investments and will be replaced by Allison Goldberg. Lam spent 14 years leading the group and has not said what her next move is.

Boku appointed Gillian Davies as its new CFO.

Aryaka hired Aiden Cullen as the team’s CFO.

Former GE CIO and current Partner of General Atlantic Gary Reiner has joined Turbonomic’s board of directors. Turbonomic is a performance platform for hybrid clouds.

Fixed wireless fiber provider Towerstream appointed Ernest Ortega as its new CEO. Ortega succeeds Philip Urso who served as the company’s interim CEO and will continue to serve on the company’s board of directors.

The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) announced new members to its 2017 board of directors. Juniper’s chief marketing officer Mike Marcellin and Ericsson’s CTO Glenn Laxdal will serve as the company’s first and second vice-chairs.

Former CTO and Development Officer for Cisco Systems Charles Giancarlo will become a member of Zscaler’s board of directors.

Microsoft is expected to cut about 700 jobs across the company’s many offices and business units. The cuts are likely part of its previously announced plan to cut 2,850 jobs by June 2017.

Oracle will be laying off 450 employees in its hardware division in Santa Clara, California, the Mercury News reported.

ZTE plans to cut around 3,000 jobs in the first quarter of 2017, Reuters reported. The cuts come as 4G sales decline, and as it faces expected supply sanctions issued by the U.S. Commerce Department.