Neal Allen

Neal Allen is a senior engineer in the Technical Assistance Center (TAC) at Fluke Networks in Everett, Washington focusing on escalated issues related to Fluke Network s' server-based monitoring solutions.  His responsibilities in TAC are the particularly difficult or obscure problems, both phoned in and at various customer sites around the world.  He also works closely with the design engineers on new product or feature specifications and later on alpha and beta testing of the same.  Previously he was a product manager for handheld network analyzers.  His responsibilities in marketing were "anything the engineers don't do," including market research, writing manuals and literature, helping to specify and beta test new products and product features, attending and delivering papers at trade shows, and providing both training and sales support worldwide.  Allen has been involved in network design, installation, and troubleshooting for nearly 20 years.  Although his focus has been primarily OSI Layer 3 and below, he has also designed and taught a number of short seminars and a three-quarter introductory networking course at local community colleges.  Allen has been a member of the Interop trade show NOC (Network Operations Center) team since 1993 and, in addition to other responsibilities, is responsible for troubleshooting show-floor problems at the Las Vegas Interop trade shows.  Allen was chosen to help support and troubleshoot the network for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.