Extreme Networks may get L.A. County work after audit
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Nov 20 (Reuters) - Extreme Networks Inc. (NasdaqNM:EXTR - news) on Tuesday said it may be back in the hunt for work from Los Angles County after an audit found a county executive had a conflict-of-interest in choosing Cisco Systems Inc. (NasdaqNM:CSCO - news) networking products for all county agencies.
Getting some of those equipment orders would be a big boost for Santa Clara, California-based Extreme, which is dwarfed by Cisco, the No. 1 network equipment maker.
An Extreme Networks spokesman said the company had no comment on the conflict-of-interest finding against Los Angeles County Chief Information Officer Jon Fullinwider, but said it would continue to seek county work.
Paul De Zan, an Extreme Networks spokesman, said that for the county to select a single supplier would be a mistake.
``The central argument about having more than one vendor is 'best-of-breed,''' De Zan said. ``You can rarely ever have that from one source.''
The Los Angeles Times on Tuesday reported a confidential audit by Los Angeles County found Fullinwider had a conflict-of-interest when he selected Cisco as the sole equipment provider for a $250 million county telecom contract.
The newspaper reported that Fullinwider, who owned as many as 68 Cisco shares while overseeing the contract, sought to standardize the county's networking equipment with Cisco products as was required, he had said, by a county contract with telephone company Pacific Bell.
That triggered a dispute with the county health department, which favored Extreme Networks over Cisco for its network needs at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.
Fullinwider ordered the medical center to choose Cisco. An audit followed. It concluded Fullinwider did not disclose his Cisco shares and the Pacific Bell contract did not require the county to exclusively use Cisco products, the Los Angeles Times reported.
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