Head of Technology Strategy - RealNetworks
Greater Seattle Area
- Current
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- CTO, Board of Directors at International Multimedia Telecommunications Consortium
- Head of Technology Strategy, Technology Products and Services at RealNetworks
- Past
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- Director of Standards / Manager of Mobile Systems at RealNetworks
- Senior Technical Program Manager/Software Architect at Action Engine
- Founder/Senior Partner at Thinqtank
- Founder/CTO at Telvoda
- Program Manager at Microsoft
- Education
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- University of Washington
- Kalamazoo College
- Recommended
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5 people have recommended Chris - Connections
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245
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- Industry
- Computer Software
- Websites
Chris Steck’s Summary
Seasoned technology strategist with fifteen years experience on the cutting edge of telecommunications, networking and content delivery.
Chris Steck’s Specialties:
Technology strategy, technical program management,software architecture, standards body representation, project management, product management
Chris Steck’s Experience
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CTO, Board of Directors
International Multimedia Telecommunications Consortium
(Non-Profit; 11-50 employees; Computer Networking industry)
January 2007 — Present (1 year 5 months)
IMTC's mission is “To improve customer experience and accelerate market adoption of content delivery and unified communications solutions through interoperability of products and services based on open standards.” IMTC carries out this mission through the creation of Working and Activity Groups which target various obstacles such as interoperability, IPR encumbrances, and other barriers to adoption.
Key Responsibilities as CTO:
• Chair the Strategy Activity Group which delivers the Technology Roadmap
• Drive cross-functional participation in the roadmap between AG/WG Leaders
• Ensure charters/activities of other AG/WG reflect the larger goals of the tech roadmap
• Evangelize IMTC’s mission / Provide Thought Leadership to Industry -
Head of Technology Strategy, Technology Products and Services
RealNetworks
(Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; RNWK; Computer Software industry)
June 2006 — Present (2 years)
Chief responsibility is to prepare and position Real as the vendor of choice for content delivery components and hosted services across converged networks. Previous mobile-centric role expanded to provide tech strategy across all areas of TPS include packet cable, IPTV, IMS and Fixed Mobile Convergence.
Key Responsibilities:
• Deliver/Own the overall TPS Technology Strategy
• Create and maintain a competency-based technology roadmap that is +18-36 months beyond the current Development Roadmap.
• Direct the TPS Innovation discovery-driven research program
• Coordinate Tech Strat research handoffs into the SDLC and Product Roadmap
• Inform the Product Roadmap with the Technology Strategy
• Represent Technology Strategy in cross-functional biz strategy teams
• Drive RN's Standards and Industry Initiatives Program
• Communicate RN's Thought Leadership to Key Industry Players and Customers -
Director of Standards / Manager of Mobile Systems
RealNetworks
(Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; RNWK; Computer Software industry)
April 2005 — June 2006 (1 year 3 months)
Manage and Execute on Real’s Mobile Systems’ Vision
• Gather customer requirements, drive product definition and architecture for Real’s Mobile Server line.
• Drive cross-functional team activities including product management, development, program management and QA
• Play an active role in mobile RFP/RFI responses.
Direct Integration/Interop Activities
• Work closely with handset manufacturers and RTOS vendors to insure their products proper interop with Helix servers.
Direct Real’s Standards and Industry Initiatives Efforts
• Provide key technical leadership for Real within 3GPP, 3GPP2, DVB, OMA, IMTC, IETF, JCP, ETSI and other fundamental Standards Organizations.
• Serve as internal Subject Matter Expert on germane aspects of the resultant specifications.
• Drive compliance requirements and specifications into software development specifications and test plans. -
Senior Technical Program Manager/Software Architect
Action Engine
(Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Computer Software industry)
May 2003 — April 2005 (2 years)
• Developed detailed requirements, specifications and architecture documents for PalmOne, Symbian (Series 60 & UIQ), Windows Mobile and J2ME MIDP 2.0 handset apps.
• Worked with ODMs, OEMs and Mobile OS vendors to identify at an early stage potential technical issues, scope the level of effort and measure probability of success in porting applications.
• Managed technical and project relationships with mobile network operators (MNOs)
• Researched and evaluated new technologies for applicability to product line. Performed technical analysis of competitive products and technologies. Served as Subject Matter Expert for these technologies. -
Founder/Senior Partner
Thinqtank
(Partnership; 1-10 employees; Computer Software industry)
August 2000 — May 2003 (2 years 10 months)
Developed business strategies, product plans, technical spec and software prototypes for telecommunications. Conducted competitive research and market analysis.
Key Projects:
• Lead Architect on Voice Response services platform for Call Measurement and Monitoring ASP. Prototyped, designed and managed development of a real-time IVR call control/ call recording app with integrated web app for designing call flows in real-time.
• Senior Program Manager on Search Result Visualization project for #2 Search Engine. Designed Functional Requirements and user interface, prototyped and program managed project which allows sites returned as search engine results to be “previewed” by presenting the results as thumbnail snapshots of the site’s home page. Managed relationship with third party image provider. Facilitated Legal, Business Development and Operations in contract discussions and SLA requirements for third party. -
Founder/CTO
Telvoda
(Partnership; 1-10 employees; Computer Networking industry)
December 2000 — May 2003 (2 years 6 months)
Thinqtank’s first spin-off, Telvoda produced a cross-platform VoIP PBX embedded in a WiFi access point, with distributed call control, interconnection and personal call routing web services. Targeted at small biz, Telvoda's model was to give a Dialogic/Intel based reference design to CE mfrs, licence them the PBX software and give a reseller’s cut of the hosted services revenue.
Key Responsibilities /Accomplishments
• Analysis of embedded RTOS, handheld device, 802.11, cellular and VoIP sectors.
• Designed “skinable” presentation layer XML for private labeling thin clients. This arch was sensitive to platform differences across multiple devices. Designed web services for routing and call control between phone clients and server side telephony engine.
• Worked with outsource hw design firm on ref design for the WiFi PBX and negotiated OEM deal to produce a two-line PSTN gateway PCI card
• Demo'ed find me/follow me services on both VoIP softswitch and via SS7 TCAP integration -
Program Manager
Microsoft
(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; MSFT; Computer Software industry)
June 1995 — February 2000 (4 years 9 months)
Lead PM, Low TCO SDK -Managed team that produced SDK scontaining code samples, hands on labs, and guidelines for writing Low TCO apps. Drove Low TCO guidelines into Designed for Windows logo program. Delivered tools which allowed enterprises to preserve user data and application settings in “wipe & load” deployments of Win2k over existing legacy Windows PCs. Represented MS in speaking engagements and press events.
PM, WinSock 2 - Shipped WinSock 2 for Win95, & Windows 98. PM’ed team with multiple concurrent dependencies and commitments to Win95, WinNT, and Win98. Drafted functional specs and handled release management. Represented MS and the WinSock standards body in speaking engagements and press events.
PM - Windows Telephony
Delivered specs for user interface, features, functionality, architecture and prototyped UI for numerous telephony research project prototypes including a VoIP phone. Represented MS in speaking engagements and press events.
Chris Steck’s Education
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University of Washington
MA, Computational Linguistics, 2009 (expected)
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Kalamazoo College
B.A., Computer Science, Mathematics, 1986 — 1990
- Activities and Societies:
- 2 yrs NCAA Football
Additional Information
Chris Steck’s Websites:
Chris Steck’s Interests:
Computational Linguistics
Chris Steck’s Groups:
IEEE, 3GPP, ETSI, IMTC, OMA, IETF
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IP Multimedia Subsystem - IMS member -
International Multimedia Telecommunication Consortium (IMTC) member
Chris Steck’s Honors:
Board of Directors, Internatonal Multimedia Telecommunications Consortium, 2005-2007, 2007-2009
Chris Steck’s Contact Settings
Interested In:
- new ventures
- expertise requests
- business deals
- reference requests
- getting back in touch
