From Telechoice...Westell, Inc. In Management Shake-Up -- Marc Zionts, Promoted to CEO
Position ÿ Check It Out
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Copyright c 1998 TeleChoice, Inc.
January 5, 1998 -- Westell Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: WSTL) is looking
to reinvent itself by changing out its highest level senior manager. The
company has announced the appointment, effective immediately, of Marc J.
Zionts as Chief Executive Officer of Westell, Inc., a wholly owned
subsidiary of Westell Technologies, Inc. He will report to Robert H.
Gaynor, Acting Chairman and CEO of Westell Technologies, Inc. Rob Faw,
Westell, Inc.'s former CEO, has left the company to pursue other
business interests.
TeleChoice sees the move as a milestone for Westell. Westell's stock
jumped from an IPO price in the 10s to over 100 in anticipatory trading
that the firm would be THE stock to track in the soon-to-be-exploding
DSL market. However, aggressive pricing and sales by the leading CO
equipment vendors -- namely Alcatel and Ericsson to a degree -- have cut
Westell out of a large portion of DSL's growth. Westell stock hit the
low 10s (post-split) again in December. The company had to do something,
and the Board saw Faw and Seamans as the major leaders of Westell up to
this point; Seamans left a few months ago, and Faw's departure is part
of today's announcement.
Westell has Bell Atlantic, GTE-CLEC, and BT as its major customers, and
needs to regroup around that base. There are no major telco contracts
expected in the near term, save GTE-ILEC -- which Westell is expected to
have some portion of. The company needs to execute those contracts
flawlessly, trim the ranks, refine products and focus, focus, focus on
deliverables. But most of the interim market for DSL is determined, and
hte major growth area is in the in-building DSL systems, such as offered
through Westell Worldwide Services.
Zionts has a strong relationship with each of the present Westell
customers, having been involved on the front end of the sales. Tele
Choice expects a strong focus on delivery and niche market sales from
Zionts. We would expect Westell Worldwide Services to start to make some
progress -- there has been little visible to date. We also expect
further management changes as Zionts makes his mark.
Marc previously held the position of Senior Vice President of ADSL
System Sales. Prior to joining Westell, Mr. Zionts was co-founder of the
systems integration firm, Softnet Systems, and earlier held various
marketing and sales positions with GTE and Fujitsu. Mr. Zionts holds a
Master's degree in business management and a Bachelor's degree in
industrial design, both from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is
currently Chairman of the Marketing Committee for the ADSL Forum, the
industry's guiding body for technological standards and equipment
interoperability.
"Marc Zionts is a rising star in our industry and has brought to Westell
a robust level of leading-edge ADSL knowledge and decisive positive
energy," stated Robert H. Gaynor. "Westell selected Marc for this
crucial position due to his thorough knowledge of data communications
and broadband systems and the strong leadership skills he has
demonstrated within the company. We are very excited to have Marc as our
CEO."
Additional changes to the Westell executive staff include the promotion
of J. Nelson to President and Chief Operating Officer of Westell, Inc.
and the promotion of Marc Hafner to Executive Vice President for
Business Development and Strategy. Mr. Nelson is well known throughout
the telecommunications service provider and equipment manufacturing
industries for his broad capabilities in both access products and DSL
systems. Prior to joining Westell in 1991, Mr. Nelson held numerous
senior management, customer service and sales positions with MCI, AT&T
and Northwestern Bell. Mr. Hafner is a well respected executive within
the broadband network systems marketplace, having held the offices of
President and Chief Operating Officer at On-Demand Technologies as well
as various senior management and technical positions at E-Systems Inc.
In his new position at Westell, Mr. Hafner takes on the added
responsibility of strategic corporate partnerships and technology
alliances for both ADSL systems and telco access products.
"Westell began operations in 1980 and over the years rapidly earned a
reputation for its high level of quality and successful approach to
engineering innovative products, winning new business and growing that
business by maintaining very high levels of customer satisfaction," said
Marc Zionts, CEO of Westell, Inc. "And in the early to mid 1990s we were
out ahead of the competition, leading the market with our ADSL products
and service. Now, with many new entries to the market, 1998 and 1999 are
extremely crucial years for Westell. To retain our leadership in this
burgeoning business, every one of our employees must achieve even higher
levels of commitment, accountability, productivity and dedication. We
owe it to ourselves and our customers and shareholders, now more than
ever, to work hard on the important issues at hand." |
