Jaishankar (Jai) Moothedath Menon

Jaishankar (Jai) Moothedath Menon was the driving force for advancing Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) storage systems as the high-performance, high-reliability solution for server-based computers. He served as Vice President and chief technologist of storage systems architecture in the IBM Systems and Technology Group in San Jose, California. Menon received his degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in India in 1977, and earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science and Information Science at Ohio State University in Columbus. In 1982, he joined IBM's research team in San Jose, California, where he developed RAID technology.

His work influenced the design of every IBM disk array product and propelled the transition from single large disks to RAID-based designs that allowed for immediate data availability or the recovery of lost data, as well as for selected levels of data redundancy. He also created techniques for RAID arrays, including techniques to combine caching with RAID to significantly improve performance and the ability to add devices to an array while in use, thus hastening RAID's adoption as the standard storage technology. In addition, Menon led the development of emulation of older mainframe devices and their protocols using cached RAID designs, improving storage reliability and lowering costs for the existing installed base. His leadership fostered the strong growth of RAID array storage products, which came to support all forms of server-based computing and generate nearly $20 billion in annual revenues.

He was responsible for major advances in storage networking and attaching logical storage devices to servers through networks, including technologies that reduced the need to exchange data between servers. This saved as much as 30 percent of server capacity. He also instigated the IBM development of LAN-free and server-free backups that dramatically improved data backup and restore times.

From March 1992 to August 2000, Menon served as Executive Director of the Software Group at IBM New York, in charge of the go-to-market for internet rich media, web content management, and interactive TV products, as well as leadership for productizing worldwide research across labs in the USA, Israel, China, and Japan. The released products under his direction included Java Media Framework, HotMedia, and Domino/Real-Networks. While at IBM's T. J. Watson Research Labs, he managed a team of researchers in areas of virtual reality (productized 3DIX, PanoramIX), product data management (PDM), CAD, speech recognition, computer graphics, and UIs.

In 2000, he left IBM to join AT&T (formerly BellSouth), serving as its Executive Vice President and Corporate Officer, Product Innovation (Marketing) in Atlanta, Georgia. Menon also served as Chief Technology Officer for IT across all businesses. In August 2002, he returned to India to become the Director of Global Innovation and IT of Bharti Airtel in Gurgaon, India. When Airtel expanded to Africa, he was additionally appointed as CTIO (Chief Technology and Information Officer) of Airtel Africa, where he ran Networks and IT, in addition to serving as Bharti's Group CIO across businesses, including telecom, tower-cos, retail, financial services, manufacturing/distribution, agri-products, software, and training.

Menon authored 31 papers and 47 technical reports on RAID and storage systems, held 50 U.S. patents for storage technology, and had 11 additional applications with the U.S. Patent Office. He was a contributing author to three books on database and storage systems. He was a recipient of several awards, which included: IBM Fellow (2001); IEEE Fellow—Winner of the 2002 IEEE W. Wallace McDowell Award; the 2006 IEEE Reynold B. Johnson Information Storage Systems Award; the IBM Master Inventor Award; Forbes Outsourcing Excellence Award (USA) Forbes 2007; GSMA Global Mobile Award (Barcelona) GSMA 2008; Telecom Asia Award (Hong Kong) Telecom Asia 2009; Information Week Global CIO 50 (USA, 2009); IDC Asia-Pacific Enterprise Innovation Award (Singapore) IDC 2009; IIT Delhi Distinguished Alumni Award, IIT Delhi, India 2010; CIO of the Year, Skoch Group (India) 2011; and NASSCOM/DSCI Security Excellence Award for Telecom (India) 2012.