You bet. This is HUGE with a capital HUGE. :) What this essentially means is that end-to-end solutions selling is where all the big dollars are going to go, as Telecomguy has been pointing out for as long as I've been in Nortel.
The other thing to note is that telecom companies are not looking to have a fast switchover. Did anyone else notice the 10 year plan? Obviously, they will move their voice over to IP in the next couple of years, but it looks like the ripouts that Cisco was counting on will not occur. In addition, those that don't secure the solutions contract will be relegated to the crumbs, essentially handed out by the vendor of first choice. So in this case, Nortel might hand out some crumbs to Juniper and Cisco, if they can't fit the bill on a few of the products within the solution themselves.
This is the 3rd MAJOR gauntlet that Nortel has spit on and then slapped Cisco silly with. The first was Optical, the second was Wireles, and now the third is wholesale, end -to-end, solutions selling and network operations management.
This competition is heating up to solar temperatures. How exciting. I still hope my faborite team, Cisco, wins, but I've got to hand it to Nortel, which I also own. They are kicking ass when the ass-kicking counts! |
