There are certain realities that every business must face no matter how small or large they become. One of such is Nortel's agonizing over itself and how it will continue and which pieces, if any, of Nortel will survive.In getting to a reasonable position to make decisions, certain questions need asking along with the soul-searching task of being able to deliver viable solutions and/or products to a changed market once saturated with your products, only now caught up in an onslaught of infatuation of your competitors and their channels teaming, rallying and pushing for your demise with unending sales campaigns (Beat Nortel).
One would hope that Nortel in spite of its current state would be able to pick one thing that Nortel does or did better than anyone else. Then, deciding to endeavor upon that one thing or not, and whether or not the company can retain and reclaim a stake in that one thing. As a business manager I can't help but say that indeed, Nortel lost its way long ago. Mismanagement, angry employees, betrayal of public trusts, arrogance and stagnation are just a few things that surface in the discussion of Nortel.
Nortel's inability to compete in the IT space using the muscle to try and buy market share and presence against Cisco failed. They also missed the boat in the changing carrier space. The Social Security Administration (SSA) deal is an entity under Nortel Government Services that has been debated by a few here on No Jitter and in fairness, I'd have to raise the question that if folks think the SSA paid too much for Nortel solutions then why are more folks willing to pay more for Cisco? Verizon awarded 4G contracts to Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson with an estimated worth of $3b - $5b during the next five years of initial Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless infrastructure. Nortel lost out on a deal that makes the SSA look very small.
Nortel has sold off Alteon and what you're not hearing is what you're wondering. Nortel distributors are aligning themselves with Avaya and interestingly not with Cisco, and the question has been raised and debated on what do Nortel users do? Once the market is in motion it doesn't stop or reward kindly any ailing company and quickly forgets past accomplishments. Instead, in spite of the International Nortel Networks Users Association (INNUA) public pledge of commitment to Nortel, users or I should say companies managing Nortel assets for customers are beginning to turn away. Some of our customers share the same concerns and yes, many of us including customers have kinder things to say about Nortel products. However, migration plans away from Nortel aren't idle topics of debate--they are plans in motion.
So Nortel, what is it that you're good at? Proclaiming to have hundreds of thousands of customers depending upon your gear? Whatever it is, it must resolve itself in the minds of the public real soon. When the rats begin leaving the ship you know what lies ahead. Whatever you do to reinvent yourselves, make it worthy of your legacy. Otherwise, keep on singing the words of the Gambler and maybe you'll get the idea. Nortel: make yourselves loveable again with that one thing.
