DAVID H. CROCKER

Extensive management, marketing, design and development experience for computer networking-related businesses. Emphasis on innovative opportunities and aggressive delivery schedules. Orientation towards program and project management, business and marketing analysis, and operations and customer support. Primary contributions in development of large-scale distributed architectures, communication protocol standards, electronic mail systems and human usability,.

Experience

Principal, Brandenburg InternetWorking, 1991 - Present

• Consultancy specialized in guiding the design of distributed information technologies, products and businesses, from planning through development and evolution. Emphasis on inter-working with existing and competitive services, and focusing on using intranets and the Internet.
• Participate in development of Internet startup business plans, pursuit of funding and execution of business and technical plan.
  • Founded Portola Communications, producing email server technology; purchased by Netscape.
  • Founded Boldfish, producing software and service for subscription bulk mail sending and tracking.
  • Founded TribalWise, producing knowledge management software for senior customer support staff.
  • Assisted other startups to obtain venture funding.
• Assist in development of intellectual property claims and serve as expert witness.
• Founded Internet Mail Consortium, an industry trade association
• Recent projects
  • Lead email anti-abuse (spam, phishing) efforts based authenticated trust services.
  • Created specification for Internet enhancement for support of multihomed or mobile hosts
  • Lead standards efforts for facsimile and EDI over the Internet
  • Planned administrative enhancements to Internet domain name system
  • Developed of business and functional analysis of mass-market advanced electronic mail service
  • Specified extensions to Internet email and information services
  • Designed transport-independent deferred-attachment API
  • Designed TCP/IP network over ATM-based interactive cable television service
  • Instigated design of new Internet Protocol for mass-market scaling while protecting the installed base of IP users (SIPP, IPv6)
• Recent advisory roles
  • Goodmail Systems, Proofpoint, Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group,
• Participated in program planning for international conferences (Networld+Interop and Apricot)

Manager, Network Systems Lab, Digital Equipment Corp., 1989 - 1991

• Created strategic technology-transfer group to assist corporate efforts with TCP/IP. Developed early internetworking firewall, router and network management administration products.

Vice President, Engineering, The Wollongong Group, Inc., 1987 - 1989

• Responsible for development, across 9 product lines, covering end-user and OEM open systems software products, including complete TCP/IP Internet Protocol Suite, ISO-OSI suite, SNMP-based network management station and TCP/OSI transition.
• Responsible for staff of 50, performing software engineering, configuration management and project support, and corporate network and computing services. Created pattern of meeting delivery schedules, with individual accountability and reward.

Development Manager, Ungermann-Bass, Inc., 1985 - 1987

• Delivered initial suite of TCP/IP hardware products.
• Project managed LAN/X.25 gateway; reoriented program to make on-schedule delivery .

Director, System Development, MCI Digital Information Services Corp., 1983 - 1985

• Met extremely aggressive development schedule, creating application, directory and data processing components for MCI Mail, a unique, $50 million, distributed national electronic mail service. Developed interactive and remote batch access for 140,000 users, including delivery for Telex inbound and outbound, as well as hardcopy with letterhead and signature graphics, and access for communicating word processors.
• Led design activities, integrating range of platforms. Interfaced with other departments and major sales contacts.

Co-Principal Investigator, Electrical Engineering, Univ. of Delaware, 1978 - 1982

• Developed Unix-based distributed facility for relaying mail among architecturally heterogeneous networks, which served as an exemplar for now-classic UA/MTA architecture.
• Operated mail relay service for the Army and NSF's CSNet, precursor to NSFNet.
• Authored various Internet protocol specifications, especially for electronic mail.

Researcher, The RAND Corporation, 1975 - 1978

• Developed early Unix-based email user and transport software system.

Professional

• IEEE Internet Award - 2004, co-recipient, for contributions to email.
• Senior participant in Internet standards effort, including electronic mail, domain name system and transport standards. Led effort to standardize facsimile over Internet and electronic data interchange (EDI) over the Internet. Area director for Internet Engineering Task Force (1989-1993) providing long-term technical management for TCP/IP Internet network management, standards process management and service applications (middleware).
• Program committee chair/member for Conference on Email and Anti-Spam, Interop,
• Session chair and presenter at conferences, including MAAWG, IFIP Itrust, N+I Interop, Electronic Messaging Association, APRICOT, RIPE, EMail World and Unix Expo.
• Presenter of numerous classes on the Internet, TCP/IP and open systems networking
• Author of book chapters, magazine articles, presentations and specifications on open systems networking, standards, electronic mail and electronic commerce.
• Chaired, Silicon Valley–Public Access Link, a volunteer-run community information service provider; continue on its Board.

Personal

Education

• Doctoral Program, Univ. of Delaware, Computer Science, Sept. 78–Dec. 82.
• M.A., Annenberg School, USC; Communication. 1977
• B.A., UCLA; Psychology. 1975.

Publications and Presentations

• See: bbiw.net/musings.html

Member