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Nicolaas Smit

Director

Energy Industry Global Industries Center of Expertise

Nicolaas Smit leads the Global Energy vertical at Cisco. He is responsible for the identification, development and go-to-market strategy for energy industry solutions, to support energy customers as they shape the future of their industry. The Energy vertical in Cisco includes the Oil & Gas and Utility Industries.

Smit has been with Cisco since 1999 and has held multiple leadership positions within the Global Enterprise Theatre, the Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG), Customer Service and Global IT. As the Director of Oil and Gas Strategy with the Global Enterprise theater he shaped Cisco’s go to market for the Global Customers. In his role in IBSG Director of Technology and Customer Experience, he successfully consulted with many customers to become more effective through changed business processes and intelligent technology deployment.

As a former Director of Global Cisco Services IT based in Europe, he brings significant and broad experience in Service, Operations and IT management to the global Energy organization, as well as Organization Development experience from the various global change management programs he led within Cisco Services IT and Customer Service.

Prior to joining Cisco, Smit worked for Ericsson’s European IT organization focused on Strategic Planning, IT Services, Cost Management, and Total Quality Management.

Throughout his career, Smit has focused on leading organizations through transformational and revolutionary change, with ‘Business Relevance of IT’ being at the centre of his IT management roles.

Smit is a graduate from the Free University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, with a Master’s Degree in Dutch Notary Law. His professional education includes Stanford/Harvard ‘Leading Change and Organizational Renewal’, and certification in IT project management from the British computer society. He is fluent in Dutch, German and English.

Articles

European Utility Week Showcases Cisco Leadership

Guest blog by Philippe Couturaud, Cisco Business Development Manager, EMEAR Utilities: This week you have the opportunity of meeting up with Cisco at the European Utility Week event in Austria. Cisco has become synonymous with providing advanced critical infrastructure for our utility customers enab…

#CiscoChat: Coming Out Ahead in Oil and Gas with Digital Technologies

The oil and gas industry has been digitized since the 1960s – perhaps longer than any other sector. From digital computers to digital oilfields, the industry has evolved from a monitor and react model, to one of real-time and predictive decision making. Now, change is coming to the industry. Some co…

Driving Operational Excellence Through Digital Transformation in Oil & Gas

Guest Blog by Marcel Cappetti, Managing Director, Oil and Gas, Global Enterprise Theater I’ve just returned from CERAWeek in Houston—an international event that could be described as “Davos for the energy industry.” It’s a gathering of the power elite, including industry, finance, technology, and go…

Securing Your Industrial Networks by Aligning IT and OT

In the first six months of 2013, 53 percent of cybersecurity incidents were in the energy sector, according to the Department of Homeland Security. As cyber-attacks are becoming increasingly prevalent in industries that support our critical infrastructure, it’s crucial that business leaders adopt se…

IoE-Powered Business Transformation Boosts Agility and Efficiency for Oil and Gas Companies

This week I’m attending CERAWeek, the premier international gathering of energy industry leaders, experts, government officials, policymakers, and innovators. While this is the 34th annual CERAWeek conference, the mood is definitely not “business as usual.” The disruption and uncertainty created by…

The Information Driven Enterprise in a Connected World

Join me at the ARC Industry Forum Europe 2015 –  March 4-5, Amsterdam, The Netherlands – where this year the theme is ‘The Information Driven Enterprise in a Connected World’. “New and emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things, predictive analytics, wireless,…

Welcome René Pluis to the Cisco Energy Blog

Please join me in welcoming René Pluis to the Cisco Energy Blog. René is a member of my global energy team and has vast experience of Cisco architectures and technologies and how they can be applied to our customer’s business and technical challenges to create positive business outcomes. René…

Welcome Matt Morris to the Cisco Energy Industry Blog

Please join me in welcoming Matt Morris to the Energy Industry Blog. Matt is the Global Solution Lead for Cisco’s Internet of Things (IOT) Solutions practice (Oil & Gas, Utilities, Manufacturing, Transportation and Mining), where he leads the strategy, development and go to market of Cisco’s “bi…

Join Cisco at European Utility Week 4-6 November 2014

Join Cisco at European Utility Week 2014  (4-6 November, 2014 in Amsterdam) to gain perspective on key industry issues and learn why utilities worldwide are choosing Cisco to lower their costs and deliver more value from their operations on a single, intelligent and secure platform. I’m lookin…