As an executive with 30 years of high technology leadership, John Higginbotham sheds light on the positive and negative impact of today’s technology. He is the Executive Chairman at Blue Ridge Networks, a company that provides cyber security solutions to government and commercial enterprises.
With a long history of large and small business experience, Higginbotham knows the ropes of how to create business success in multiple settings. He feels that large companies represent the “backbone” of economic stability but have difficulty adapting to the market, while small businesses must stay nimble to the market by simultaneously addressing problems and providing solutions. By adding small business innovation and large enterprise force projection you’ll receive an effective engine for finding practical solutions, says Higginbotham.
Keeping up with the constant change in technology can be difficult, but Higginbotham gives his advice on how to deal with new technology. “The key to successfully managing through this technology ‘hurricane’ is to surround oneself with very smart people, possessing deep knowledge and insights in relevant fields, as well as continuing to be a student of the disciplines,” said Higginbotham. He also suggests learning enough so that you can provide guidance and focus for others wanting to learn.
In reaction to the recent cyber attacks on Google accounts, Higginbotham suggests that in order to avoid these circumstances we need to come up with new approaches. Cyber attacks are becoming one of the most dangerous situations in our society today. He thinks it is becoming an issue that is affecting national security, economy and even individual rights.
“This is one of the reasons why I recently committed to help bring new, effective, immediate solutions into the marketplace such as those Blue Ridge Networks is deploying to help address the problem,” said Higginbotham.
Despite the rise in the break of cybersecurity, cloud computing is another topic on the verge of high popularity. Higginbotham believes it brings new levels of productivity, novel applications and original ways of doing things all in a positive light. He also believes the adoption of cloud computing solutions can help enable new capabilities while achieving needed performance improvements.
Higginbotham has been involved in many firsts in the technology field. He helped introduce the first PC for HP, pioneer the development of a space insurance industry and help the evolution of capital markets with his involvement in the privatization and commercialization of some aerospace, communication and IT organizations.
“It’s exciting to help bring practical, useful emerging technology to solve real problems while building enterprises to deliver solutions,” said Higginbotham. For all the contributions he’s made over the years, Higginbotham thanks his teachers, family members, colleagues, friends and institutors for giving support in his career.
Higginbotham previously worked at SpaceVest Capital as the senior partner, International Technology Underwriter (Intec), as co-founder and senior executive and worked at Hewlett-Packard (HP) as product manager for its release of first microcomputers. Higginbotham graduated from Virginia Tech with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering. He still remains a die-hard Hokie fan.