Routing upstart Procket Networks Inc. may have found the guy to fill the shoes of former CEO Randall Kreup, who resigned this summer (see Procket CEO Resigns and Procket Faces Tough CEO Search). A Light Reading source says Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) VP Roland Acra has been tapped to become Procket's new CEO.

Light Reading hasn't been able to confirm that Procket has hired Acra yet. Calls to Procket weren't returned.

Acra couldn't be reached, but a Cisco spokeswoman told Light Reading today that Acra is leaving the company shortly.

Acra has been at Cisco since 1991. For the moment, he is VP and CTO, focusing on Cisco's Service Provider market. Prior to that, he held the title of VP and GM of Cisco's Public Carrier IP Group, where he's responsible for Cisco's 12000 series core routers.

Acra told Reuters last year that routing startups like Procket were "the sharp object that pricks us into continuing to innovate at Cisco."

While Cisco and Procket are competitors, they have more of a kinship than Cisco and its archrival Juniper Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: JNPR). While Procket was still a chip company, Cisco took a small stake and continues to own a piece of the company today, according to an April 2003 Reuters report.

Procket's interim CEO Paul Matteucci has been scrambling to help the company secure more funding (see Procket Plows On). If Acra does indeed hop on board, it may signal that new funds are either coming soon or already in the bank.

— Phil Harvey, Senior Editor, Light Reading