Can Enterprise Save Nortel?
Ever since Nortel bought Bay Networks for more than $9-billion in 1998, Nortel has been adamant about establishing itself as a leading enterprise player. The idea, in theory, is it should be able to leverage its expertise and strong position in the carrier market to attract enterprise customers. The only problem is this strategy has yet to really work. Sure, Nortel CEOs (John Roth, Frank Dunn, Bill Owens and, now, Mike Zafirovski) like to talk the talk about how a new approach will turn things around but it hasn’t happened yet. Owens even trash-talked Cisco by suggesting the market was looking for a viable alternative, which is another way of saying “if you don’t do business with us, Cisco will continue to dominate the market and keep prices high”. For his part, Zafirovski seems intent on pursuing the enterprise market. “We do believe we have a real chance to be strong in enterprise,” he said last week during a conference call with analysts. “Enterprise is an area we certainly are very
