Let the Speculation begin - Nortel Bankruptcy Effect
News of Nortel’s bankruptcy filing hit the news yesterday. No one is really surprised.
First thoughts, you can bet that giants like Cisco and Avaya will be courting some Nortel customers. The truth of it is, Nortel while they have some great products – was not run well. Hopefully this status allows them to have time to regroup.
But honestly, after their peak in 99-2000 it has all been downhill. This is hardly a surprise to many. From the dotcom downturn, to the bogus earning scandal in 2003, and an inability to turn it around for the last several years, this appears to be a swan song.
The Unified Communications properties may be amongst the strongest chips the company may have as it can be anticipated that it will sell pieces of itself off. The question is in these economic times, what company would possibly have the cash to pick this up? Natural speculation, but this much is clear, Nortel’s UC technologies and clientele present an opportunity that someone out there will not be able to resist. We know Microsoft is aligned with Nortel. John Fontana explores this relationship in his NetworkWorld post.
“Microsoft said it is waiting for more information before it can evaluate the fallout. “All ICA offerings are currently available to customers and no changes are planned at this time,” said a company spokesperson via e-mail. “We are not in the position to assess the impact of the ICA until we understand Nortel’s plans.”
Juniper may be out there, Cisco, and on and on, but again it all comes down to who can pony up the cash in a tight, but loosening credit market. This story will surely evolve..