Gary Nichols

Gary successfully leads the Civilian Team as the Sales Director for Ciena Government Solutions, Inc. (CGSI). Gary’s team is responsible for the sales of Ciena’s packet-optical transport, switching platforms, and the Blue Planet network orchestration software suite providing an intelligent automation portfolio for network management, service orchestration, and Network Function Virtualization.

With over 20+ years of experience in the federal market, Gary freely shares his success and professional skill in sales management, sales, business development, and capture management with the Team at Ciena. Prior to joining Ciena, Gary was the Director of Civilian Business Development for Juniper Networks, Senior Manager for Strategic Programs for World Wide Technology, and Business Development Manager for the Managed Services Provider Team at Cisco Systems. From 1997 to 2007 Gary served in a variety of roles at Nortel Federal Networks where he was a Senior Sales Director, Federal Eastern Regional Sales Manager, Federal Director of Business Development, and Federal Account Manager for Federal Data Solutions – DISA.

Gary’s experience working for some of the best networking and security organizations in the industry coupled with his roles in management, sales, and business development allow him to passionately apply his knowledge to ensure our federal customers’ mission success. Gary exemplifies the teamwork and collaboration required to solve our federal customers’ technology and business challenges.
Gary holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Richmond.