This work formed the basis of his Ph.D. dissertation[2] and was the foundation for LDAP, a standards-based version of DIXIE for both clients and servers.
Howes ran the engineering department and spearheaded the creation of Opsware, the company's data center automation software to speed-build sites.
At Loudcloud & Opsware, Howes held the positions of Executive Vice President and CTO.
[8] In 2007 Opsware was acquired by Hewlett-Packard for $1.65 billion, and Howes became vice president and CTO of HP Software.
In 2012, Howes co-founded Know Yourself,[12] a public benefit corporation[13] based in Oakland, California, dedicated to making self literacy a vital part of early education.
[17] In late 2024, Howes co-founded Palona AI with Maria Zhang and Steven Liu.
[19] He has served as a director on the boards of Blue Coat Systems and Homestead Technologies, as a member of the University of Michigan College of Engineering's National Advisory Committee, as a trustee of SFJazz, and he is technical advisor to various startups.