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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 Roy Long, Founder & Cloud Evangelist at skyPurple Cloud. See our previous hero spotlights here.

 

Technology and Biology

Roy’s cloud networking journey began with a fascination for technology. Even before he was a teenager, he started playing around with computers, reading the New Scientist magazine, and building his first home computer. Alongside his interest in technology, Roy had a love for biology and subsequently earned a biology degree.

When he joined the workforce, Roy’s first “real” job was for an electronic retailer, supporting an early network of Macintosh computers used by designers.

“Following that, I combined my knowledge from my biology degree with my love of everything tech and joined an early-stage pharmaceutical company, building their European IT team from the ground up,” he said. “Many years later, I saw the writing on the wall and went all in on cloud.”

Roy’s current day job combines his love for tech, biology, and leadership: he is the Founder of skyPurple Cloud, a cloud consulting startup, and has a few other fractional cloud roles as well. “My day-to-day revolves around supporting my excellent teams, but with a high proportion of cloud network and security solution design,” he said. He also is still heavily involved in complex cloud network implementations. A lot of his work centers around the life science industry, where he’s able to use his biology and pharma background to provide extra value in that sector.

Roy’s favorite part of his job is “working with incredibly talented people and cutting-edge technology,” a combination on which he thrives. He’s also proud of receiving certifications like his Aviatrix Professional certification in 2023, multiple Google Cloud and AWS certifications in 2024, and soon, AWS and GCP Machine Learning.

The biggest challenge Roy faces in his role is technical and professional: “pressure to deliver rapid, high-performance connectivity solutions, often on tight deadlines. Customers expect industry-leading results delivered in record time. Having tools that provide a unified view across all networks and applications is absolutely essential to meet those demands.”

 

Innovations in Cloud Networking

Roy has had a front seat in a rapidly changing industry. “I absolutely love not having to sit in ‘under the stairs’ cupboards anymore with a short DB-9 cable plugged into the back of a Cisco PiX firewall!” he said. “The speed with which cloud technology is developing is phenomenal and it’s great to see such innovation across the board in cloud. The interface of cloud AI and networking is currently where I’m focused.”

Roy named some of the biggest innovations he’s witnessed, including the transition from “high-pitched dial-up modems to get logged into AOL, through the early ethernet networks, then implementing fiber in the data center.” A few milestones include:

  • The “weird stage” between colocation data center and cloud – “where networking speeds were compromised for the ease and flexibility of not running your own data center infrastructure.”
  • SANs (Storage Area Networks) – “giving near on-board data speeds within a data center cluster, which really enabled virtualization with VMWare.”
  • First storage solution – The first storage solution that offered a local windows SMB fileserver, connected directly to the cloud (which was backed off to the first iteration of Amazon S3).
  • AWS – “The first time I used AWS, I could see the writing on the wall, probably a statement many people have made over the years! The ability to build a virtual network, in the cloud, and not have to order expensive and long, long lead time equipment, was game-changing.”
  • Aviatrix – “The first time I came across Aviatrix in my early years of trying to get multiple VPCs connected and routing traffic (with some level of visibility) I could see that this was a technology that would help mold the inter-cloud and site-to-cloud connectivity landscape.”
  • Shifting design practices and skillsets – “I think the obvious major shift in networking design is moving from physical network designs to virtual network designs. It has also changed the skillsets from understanding how to physically configure and set up the network (along with price estimation), to designing how the network would be used, moving the design stages more in line with application functionality and operations. Solving business problems and adding value, rather than connecting things together!”

 

The Network is the Cloud: An Intelligent and Seamless Ecosystem

“The Network is the Cloud” makes Roy think of a future where “cloud services are abstracted from the customer, allowing networks to route traffic to the best and most economical service provider. This vision would allow businesses to focus on their needs without being limited to the offerings of a single cloud provider.”

Roy sees new opportunities in this space as well: “With advancements in AI, this could unlock new opportunities to leverage the best available services dynamically, from any provider. It’s a step towards a more intelligent and seamless cloud networking ecosystem.”

 

Outside of Work

Outside of work, Roy loves to surf. “There’s nothing quite like paddling out into the ocean on my longboard,” he said. “It’s a great way to reset and clear my mind. When you’re out there with six feet of water crashing over your head, it’s hard to worry about anything else—it’s the perfect way to stay grounded.”

 

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