Network Vendors Shout Back

Responses to questions customers should ask In January, Telemanagement published John Riddell’s pointed questions for IP-PBX makers – "Six Questions for Six Vendors." The article posed the kinds of queries customers should keep in mind before they sign up for equipment. The author picked on Nortel Networks, Cisco Systems Inc., Avaya Inc., Mitel Networks Corp., NEC Corp. and Siemens AG. Now in all fairness, we’re giving them the chance to answer back. This was a surprisingly difficult article to put together, however. We originally planned to publish the vendor responses in March, but only two manufacturers met that deadline. The laggards gave us excuses and apologies, and insisted that they wanted to be heard. So we tried again for April. As you can see, the results improved, but Avaya remains missing in action. We can’t wait forever; Avaya will have to find some other way to get its answer out. Meanwhile, here’s what the others had to say for themselves. NortelQ: Through several years of corporate turmoil, Nortel Networks has maintained the pace of product development and rounded out its IP-PBX portfolio. But can Nortel succeed through technological excellence alone? Nortel urgently needs more effective front-office leadership and marketing, along with restored profitability. A:Although there is no question that our technology leadership was key to Nortel’s competitive strength during what were very tough years, it certainly isn’t enough. Our customers should expect world-class leadership, business processes and customer service. Under new CEO Mike Zafirovski, that’s what they’ll get. Mike Z is a well-respected industry veteran who is reinvigorating the company through a business transformation process. Internally, the company is simplifying its own business end-to-end. This includes everything from how orders are taken, fulfilled and serviced, to how decisions are made at Nortel. That being said, technology innovation is still going to be a pillar of Nortel’s business – it is a fundamental element of our DNA. Under Mike Z, the company is prioritizing its R&D resources to ensure that we can add new innovation, where needed, to really lead in key areas. CiscoQ:Cisco now vastly surpasses Canada’s other large PBX vendors in financial resources and profitability. But can Cisco keep focused on the development of voice/real-time technology? Despite its impressive gains in IP-PBX sales, Cisco has not established a clear lead in applications development, and in some areas (SIP technology, multimedia platforms) it has lagged. Data equipment remains Cisco’s main focus. Vendors whose excellence in voice products is a life-or-death issue may have an edge. A:Cisco’s commitment to communications solutions is demonstrated by continuous development and introduction of new products, features and applications. In September 2005, Cisco introduced additions to the IP Communications portfolio including new applications, and an expanded line of XML-enabled IP phones. Last month, the company announced the Cisco Unified Communications system for voice and video, which included the Cisco Unified Personal Communicator multimedia application, new releases of Cisco Unified CallManager and Cisco CallManager Express, as well as new releases of rich media conferencing, customer care and messaging applications. Standards-based solutions and interoperability are core strengths of Cisco. Cisco supports SIP throughout its portfolio including SIP line-side support, enhancements to SIP trunk-side support and introduction of new SIP/SIMPLE-based presence capabilities and applications, such as the Cisco Unified Presence Server. Cisco’s success in delivering both core telephony capabilities as well as unified communications applications is illustrated through market data from the Synergy Research Group, which ranks Cisco the worldwide market leader in enterprise voice revenue. With over 38,000 Unified Communications customers worldwide, Cisco’s customer shipments, as of January 2006, total more than 5 million unified messaging seats, 985,000 contact centre agents and over 144,000 rich media conferencing licences. MitelQ:Mitel, which won a large chunk of Canada’s PBX market primarily as a supplier of small systems, is trying to extend its sales upmarket. But can Mitel establish itself as a credible supplier to organizations with 500-plus users? Progress in this area would provide welcome reassurance regarding the prospects of this vendor, which is by far the smallest of major PBX makers and is often mentioned as a possible target for acquisition. A:Mitel offers a series of fully featured IP Communications platforms with scalability options ranging from as few as 10 to as many as 65,000 users in a single network configuration. Our enterprise solutions can provide seamless communications either hosted at a central site, a data centre, distributed throughout a network or in any combination. A suite of advanced Web-based management tools ensures that the solution can be managed from anywhere in the most productive and efficient manner. Highlights of Mitel’s business: Ships more IP telephony systems than anyone else in North America. Supplied the largest IP retail installation in the world with over 40,000 users. The largest and third largest school districts in the US are Mitel customers. Our single-minded focus on IP, aggressive product development program, innovative applications and best-of-breed partners make us a leading vendor of enterprise communications. We migrate and interoperate: over 50% of our IP telephony shipments are being used in harmony with PBX infrastructure. We are consistently recognized as number-one in converged applications and usability. Mitel has established a strong market presence in both large and small enterprises worldwide. Since 2001, the company has undertaken a transformation of its product portfolio to focus on IP. While competitors were cutting back their R&D investments, Mitel invested heavily in R&D on IP technologies. NECQ:Japan-based NEC is a world technology giant known in the PBX arena for excellent technology and inferior marketing. It has now made good an initial lag in IP-PBX development. Strong on Canada’s West Coast, it is striving to win market share east of Alberta; its case studies speak of careful customization to meet special needs. But does the NEC team in Canada have the depth for effective customer support? Its work force of 50, focused mainly on sales, seems scanty. A:As a 100-year-old global For- tune 500 company with over $41 billion in revenues and 148,540 employees worldwide, NEC has a proud history of leadership and innovation in core high-technology sectors. In addition to providing cutting-edge technology, NEC prides itself on the level of support that customers receive. In Canada, NEC serves the enterprise and SMB markets via its direct sales channel and more than 70 associates in the region. NEC maintains offices in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and Calgary. The regional headquarters, national customer service desk and the Canadian warehouse reside in Calgary. Each direct office is equipped with local warehouses, sales and support staff, and service personnel to address 24-7 dispatch, system installations, voice and data deployments and all AMC activity to its customer base. NEC delivers the industry’s most innovative suite of products, applications and services that support customers through each phase of the IP communications lifecycle. In fact, a recent test conducted by Miercom proclaimed the Univerge SV7000 as one of the top pure-IP telephony solutions in the enterprise communications market. NEC is committed to providing all customers with the tools and technologies needed to keep business-critical applications and services running at full capacity. Recently, NEC announced significant customer wins, including Canada’s world-renowned National Ballet School and Fraser Health, BC’s largest health authority, which further underscores our commitment to the Canadian marketplace. SiemensQ:A diversified industrial giant with great strength in telephony, Siemens seems to have everything – except a significant Canadian customer base. Siemens has tried to break into the Canadian PBX market in the past, only to let its efforts lapse. More recently, it has invested in a separate Canadian PBX division. But will Siemens stay the course? Its customers need confidence that the German powerhouse will not again retreat from Canada’s challenging market. A:Siemens in Canada is an ongoing success story. Our global and local aim is to provide solutions and address the challenges of the future in key business areas including health care, information and communications, energy and power, industry and automation, transportation and light. In all of these fields, communications and IT are core components or core enablers. As one of the largest telecommunications equipment manufacturers and innovation leaders in the world, we continue to seek extraordinary growth in the highly competitive Canadian market. Siemens has invested heavily in local sales and channel presence, where we now have a national sales and service organization, as well as a strong network of national and local channel partners. Further, we have invested in Canadian companies to strengthen our portfolio, with Trango Software (Thornhill ON) for call centre solutions and Chantry Networks (Mississauga ON) for enterprise WLAN solutions. Our domestic progress is also evident in a multiyear VAR contract expansion with Telus Corp. to deliver differentiated enterprise equipment and applications. Further to our engagements in enterprise communication, Siemens is also strongly established in the carrier market space, where we focus on IP products and network evolution. Examples of this success include softswitch technology that enables consumer VoIP service for Shaw Communications Inc. and residential wireless DSL gateways for Bell Canada.

Network Vendors Shout Back

News | 04/01/2006 5:00 am EST

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