Company > Management

The SS8 management team brings together diverse backgrounds and valuable skill sets. With experience that encompasses small and large companies, both private and public, the team shares in-depth knowledge of the telecommunications industry and a passion to deliver valuable, differentiated and reliable products to our customers.

	Dennis Haar	President and Chief Executive Officer
	Dr. Cemal Dikmen	Chief Technology Officer
	Kam Wong	Chief Financial Officer
	Jim Della Chiesa	Sr. Vice President, Global Sales
	Dr. Bülent Erbilgin	Sr. Vice President, Engineering and Services
	Derek G. Roga	Sr. Vice President, Business Development
	Derek Granath	Vice President, Product Line Management

Dennis Haar

President and Chief Executive Officer

Dennis has spent over 30 years in high technology with leadership roles in global networking, voice, and computing companies. Prior to SS8, Dennis was president and CEO of GoDigital Corporation, a leading provider of line-powered broadband network access products. At GoDigital, he led three successful financing rounds, built a significant customer base in the North American carrier market, and streamlined manufacturing and administrative operations. Before GoDigital, he was president and COO at Aspect Communications, a provider of contact center solutions. During his 11-year tenure at Aspect, he held multiple executive positions in marketing, sales and engineering as the company evolved from a start-up to a publicly owned entity with over $500 million in revenue. Earlier, Dennis worked in various managerial roles of increasing importance at Rolm Corporation and Hewlett Packard. Dennis is also a former president and current advisor to the board of the Children's Discovery Museum in San Jose, California. He has a BS degree in electrical engineering and an MBA from Stanford University.

Dr. Cemal Dikmen

Chief Technology Officer

Dr. Cemal Dikmen has been with SS8 Networks since 1995. As the Chief Technology Officer for SS8, he plays an integral role in the company’s strategic direction, development, and future growth. He leads the execution of product strategy for technology platforms, partnerships, and external relationships. A renowned expert and thought leader in the lawful interception and surveillance domain, he has been a frequent speaker at various industry conferences over the past 10 years. Prior to joining SS8, Dr. Dikmen held software engineering and business development positions at TelSoft and Telenity. He holds the following degrees, all in Electrical Engineering – BS, MS, and Ph.D.

Kam Wong

Chief Financial Officer

Kam brings a wealth of high-tech financial and administrative expertise to the SS8 team. He was chief financial officer and vice president for administration at GoDigital Networks, a leading provider of line-powered broadband network access products that was recently acquired by Communications Test Design Inc. He also spent 16 years at Sumitomo Sitex Silicon, a $1 billion silicon wafer producer. His most recent assignment at Sumitomo was as controller and director of information systems. Wong has also held executive financial positions at Peak XV Networks and Hewlett Packard. In addition to owning all things financial, Kam is responsible for SS8 human resources and information technology. He holds a BS in Business Administration from UC Berkeley.

Jim Della Chiesa

Sr. Vice President, Global Sales

Jim Della Chiesa has over three decades of sales and sales management experience, including positions at Xerox Corporation, Octel Communications and VMX. Before joining SS8 as VP of Global Sales, Jim served as Vice President of Sales for the Americas for IEX, a NICE systems company, where he helped grow the software solutions business over the past 5 years to record breaking performance levels. Previously, he served in a variety of senior level management roles at Aspect Communications, a provider of business communications solutions. These roles included central U.S. and Canadian vice president of sales and general manager of EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) business development. As central U.S. and Canadian vice president of sales for Aspect, he generated the region’s highest ever revenues. Jim holds a BA from Indiana University.

Dr. Bulent Erbilgin

Sr. Vice President, Engineering and Services

Bülent is a 21-year veteran of the computer industry who has held numerous technology leadership and management positions. His background includes development of products ranging from software applications and ASIC chip sets to massively-parallel computer systems and core routing switches at companies such as Pluris, NetFrame, Zycad and HP Labs. Prior to joining SS8, he was Vice President of Platform Engineering for Brocade where his team developed and delivered best-in-class, multi-protocol switching platforms. Bülent holds a master’s degree in Computer Science and a doctoral degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.

Derek G. Roga

Sr. Vice President, Business Development

Derek joined SS8 in January of 2009 as part of the acquisition of OCI Mobile. As founder and owner of OCI Mobile Derek successfully developed technology for smart phone interception. In 2005 Derek began developing the Middle East region to introduce the BlackBerry solution; he was the founder and CEO of EMS Mobile which became RIM’s Strategic Channel Partner for the region. Previous positions within the wireless and mobility industry include; founder and CEO of Wall Street Communications which started in 1998 to specifically launch the product that has now taken the world by storm – BlackBerry. Wall Street Communications which then merged with Outercurve Technologies in 2000 became RIM’s most successful and prolific partner. Derek was the Chief Operating Officer and then went on to become the Chief Executive Officer of Outercurve Technologies. Derek started his career with what is now Morgan Stanley and holds a Bachelor of Science in Management from Saint Francis University.

Derek Granath

Vice President, Product Line Management

Derek has over 20 years of technology product management, marketing, and business development experience with a focus on high-performance enterprise and carrier networking systems. Before joining SS8, he was vice president of marketing for ConSentry Networks where he was responsible for all aspects of product strategy and marketing for security LAN switches and appliances. At Woven Systems as vice president of marketing, he launched the company along with its first product, a 144-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet Fabric switch targeted to data center applications. Previously, Derek was senior director of product management at Brocade Communications, where he defined and launched several fibre channel product lines including Brocade’s first SAN director. Prior to Brocade, he was senior group marketing manager for ATM and Frame Relay product lines at Stratacom and Cisco Systems. Derek also held management positions in sales, product management, and manufacturing at KLA/Tencor. Derek holds a BSEE from Stanford University and an MBA from Santa Clara University.