Shernovius knows a thing or two about service.
Throughout the month of March, we will be exploring the people and projects who drive Cox technology forward in our Behind the Code technology series. Read below to learn how Cox is creating tomorrow’s tech solutions, today.
Climbing through the ranks
Shernovius Bennett started at Cox Communications as an intern and co-op with a love of technology. He advanced through the Cox organization as he became a leader at solving network problems, and now serves as a Service Assurance Technical Engineer.
Shernovius supports about 300 applications, including internal apps like Mosaic and external ones like the billing system for Cox customers. He helps mitigate issues and outages on all of them, striving to make them more efficient and reduce the number of false alerts. Shernovius isn’t intimidated by this level of responsibility – he thrives on it.
“We’re industry leaders in our NOC support efforts and how we monitor our infrastructure applications,” he said. “I love the constant challenge of identifying new solutions for evolving technologies. The wave of technology changes forces us to operate outside of our comfort zone and find new solutions.”
Recently, Shernovius has been especially proud of his work on the Service Assurance team’s incident analysis automation (IAA) project, a major effort seeking to identify incidents and set up efficiencies that reduce “noise” (false network outages).
Behind the code and serving others
As a freshman in college, Shernovius enlisted in the Alabama Air National Guard and completed tours in Afghanistan and Kuwait. Today, he’s an active member and commissioned officer.
“Less than 30 percent of Americans qualify to join the military,” he said. “Of that 30 percent, only one percent ever become officers. It’s an honor to be able to serve and lead hundreds of airmen in the world’s greatest air force.”
He’s also the operations lead for Cox Communications’ African American employee resource group and is active in the veterans’ employee resource groups. Last year, for example, he served as the moderator for a panel discussion with four Tuskegee Airmen at a special Cox Enterprises event.
Shernovius says that Cox’s family culture and emphasis on work-life balance means that tech team members don’t have to sit in cubicles and code all day – rather, they can mix up their time at work with campus activities, social events, and community service programs.
“Cox’s culture never forces you to choose between family and work,” he said. “Work-life balance is a priority and pushed throughout the organization.”
A born leader
Shernovius, who is currently earning his Executive MBA, has big aspirations in technology leadership. His dream? To become the Chief Technology Officer someday.
In the meantime, Shernovius takes advantage of Cox’s professional development and mentorship programs. He loves having the opportunity to get frequent face-time with executives – something unheard of at many other tech companies. As he earns his executive MBA from Auburn University, he’s also managing four off-shore team members. And he proactively finds ways to grow as a leader in his day-to-day work at Cox.
“The company has thousands of employees and a plethora of job opportunities, so there’s always room to learn something new,” he said. “I’m constantly meeting new people and learning new skills.”
Interested in learning more about the people who make innovation happen at Cox? Check out the rest of our Behind the Code series here, and follow along on social using #BehindTheCode. Ready to explore a career here? Search for a new role today.