Originally published July 8, 2009

Adios my friends...

Forgot to mention…I attended INNUA - the annual Nortel User Group meeting in Pittsburgh last month.  Bad enough Nortel’s on the edge of mortality, but then you throw in the economy in general and it got really weird.  We were exhibiting, and it was amazing how happy and grateful they were to have us there.  Thank you from the committee!  Thank you from Nortel!  Thank you from Pittsburgh!

But it was Nortel’s swansong and everyone knew it.  Mike Z. was up there saying things like “Thank you all for your loyalty through the years.  I know you want to know what’s next and I really want to tell you, but I just can’t yet.  We’re going to try to keep it together as best we can...”  So a week later Nokia-Siemens picked up the network piece for a song.  But now what about enterprise?  Siemens again?  Avaya?  Who can tell?  When will we know?  A surprise perhaps?  Maybe Nortel could come back as Rolm?  What do you think?

You know it’s not all just going to go up in smoke.  Those DMSes out there aren’t going to disappear overnight by any stretch of the imagination.  Wouldn’t it be weird if Avaya, the remnant of AT&T Business Telecom, actually ended up buddied up with its old nemesis?  I guess stranger things have happened.

I spent a lot of time in the company of Nortel folks, all moving forward but in an altered state.  It was clear they cared about their company, their innovative technology and their brand, but they’re still in shock that their time in the sun has come and gone.  I was reminded of that web bit that made the rounds during the telecomm crash in 2001 – the one about the 2 Nortel guys who each got a bonus; one decided to invest in Nortel stock, the other bought beer in returnable bottles.  (http://oclug.on.ca/archives/oclug/2001-September/009408.html)  After the crash, the returnable beer bottles were worth more than the stock.  Who knew it would actually turn into liquidation?  What a world, what a world…

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Mike Burke

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