As the cloud networking experts, Aviatrix wants to elevate the work of cloud networking heroes who labor to keep networks secure, effective, and performant. We’re proud to highlight people who have taught themselves the necessary skills, designed and managed successful networks, and have the expertise to share, including several who joined Aviatrix in New York at the NASDAQ tower.

Our next hero spotlight is on Mark Noorman, Competency Lead of Cloud Networking at CloudNation. See our previous hero spotlights here.

Challenge-Seeking and Problem-Solving

Like another Cloud Networking Hero, Toby Foss, Mark Noorman’s cloud networking journey began in one area and adapted with the changing industry. He started out in IT infrastructure in 1998. In 2000, he became interested in networking when he noticed that it was fundamental for creating solutions and interconnecting environments – an area he focused on for nearly two decades.

In 2017, he shifted his attention towards public cloud and moved on to specialize in resolving public cloud challenges. “Public cloud solves a lot of network challenges from the past,” he explained, “but again I was intrigued about new challenges that arose.”

Now, Mark combines his networking knowledge and love for problem-solving as he manages a team of AWS consultants, architects, and engineers, combining tech and customer projects with resource planning and coaching.

The Network is the Cloud

When asked for his take on “the network is the cloud”, Mark responded, “The network interconnects everything – legacy or on-premises environments and cloud-native solutions.” He also defined the critical functions of the cloud in networking:

• The cloud is “fundamental for reliable and secure workload implementations.”
• The cloud is a place “where a lot of control and security can be enforced, giving a central team the grip they need on quickly changing and expanding environments.”

Networking by Thinking Differently

One part of his role that Mark enjoys is helping customers shift mindsets while problem-solving network challenges. “They start understanding they have to think differently to solve certain challenges,” he said. “Or the other way around, they think cloud networking always has to be built in a certain way, but with platforms like Aviatrix, it can become so much simpler or easier. It really comes down to sharing knowledge and experience, and helping others build better solutions.”

Over his career, Mark has seen major movers in the industry create critical solutions when they began to think differently: when large organizations started collaborating and combining their solutions.

“Think of Azure and OCI building the Interconnect service, combining FastConnect and ExpressRoute to create fast and reliable connections between OCI and Azure, being able to deploy managed 3rd party security rules in your AWS Network Firewall, or Aviatrix partnering with Megaport to provide simplified edge and hybrid connectivity,” he said. “Those evolutions take away a lot of heavy lifting for customers and also for us as consulting/professional services companies.”

Outside of Work

Outside of work, Mark has been pursuing two opposite passions for 30 years: martial arts and fishing. Currently, he practices traditional jiu-jitsu and karate and has a black belt in both. “A fun fact is that I brought my karate gi to the latest re:invent in Las Vegas,” he said. “Before the event I had contacted a local karate school, and they confirmed I was welcome to come and train with them. It was a fun evening and a welcome change to the AWS activities of that week.”

His other passion is fishing, especially for carp. “I love being out in nature and relaxing, camping, and just enjoy catching these strong and magnificent animals,” he explained. “And of course, I treat them well and let them swim again after a taking a few pictures for photo evidence.”

When asked what he would do if he didn’t work in tech, Mark explained that as a kid, he had dreams of a different cloud landscape: he always wanted to be a pilot. “During my studies, I found out I like both business processes and technology, so I think I ended up pretty well,” he said.

Curious about other cloud networking heroes like Mark?

• We’ll keep highlighting networking professionals on this blog.
• Learn more about the Cloud Networking Heroes program and apply on The Cloud Network Community.