New roles for Ferrell, Gowen

Former Army CIO joins World Wide Technology, while longtime telecom leader takes the reins of MetTel's federal practice.

Diana Gowen and Robert Ferrell have each taken new jobs in the federal IT community.

Familiar faces are popping up in new roles in the federal IT community.

MetTel has hired Diana Gowen as general manager and senior vice president for its federal practice. Gowen, a 30-year veteran of the telecommunications and networking space in the federal market, had been consulting with MetTel and was instrumental in putting together the firm's successful proposal for the Enterprise Infrastructure Services contract. She is a two-time Federal 100 Award winner, and has held leadership roles with CenturyLink, Quest Communications and MCI before retiring in 2014.

Former Army CIO and now-retired Lt. Gen. Robert Ferrell, meanwhile, has joined

World Wide Technology as vice president of federal strategy, the St. Louis-based technology services provider announced.

Ferrell served as the Army's CIO for four years and was responsible for that service branch's almost $10 billion in IT investments. He won a Federal 100 Award for his leadership on IT modernization and network consolidation efforts, and was a driver of the Army's push toward on-premise private clouds.

FCW's sibling publication Washington Technology has more details on the new roles for both Ferrell and Gowen.