On October 30, 2007, dedicated hosting provider The Planet (theplanet.com) has named Stan O. Barber VP of network operations.  Barber, who reports to chairman and CEO Douglas J. Erwin, will be responsible for the company's Global Network Operations Center. He also assumes management for The Planet's abuse department, which oversees issues related to violations of the company’s acceptable use policies. 

"As we move into the managed services arena, the GNOC nerve center becomes even more important to our business," said Erwin. "Monitoring and security are essential to mission-critical, world-class service, and Stan's experience falls squarely into this realm.  With his years of leadership in hosting and telecommunications enterprises, we are making a significant investment toward our goal of delivering the industry’s best customer support."

Barber joins The Planet from Nippon Telephone & Telegraph America, where he served as VP of engineering operations for the past two years. Prior to that, he served for seven years in a series of increasingly responsible management positions with Web hosting provider Verio.