RIP: CNT UMD

The marriage of McData Corp. (Nasdaq: MCDTA) and Computer Network Technology Corp. (CNT) (Nasdaq: CMNT) will combine McDatas switches, directors, and software with CNT’s SAN extension and services -- but not CNT's director, McData CEO John Kelley said today.

In anticipation of gaining shareholder approval May 24, Kelley and CNT CEO Tom Hudson held a conference call to provide a product roadmap for the combined companies for the first time since McData announced its intention to acquire CNT in January (see McData Bags CNT for $235M).

The major product decision concerns director switches, and McData stuck with its Intrepid 10,000 (i10K) at the expense of CNT’s UltraNet Multi-service Director (UMD). By doing so, McData elected to keep the technology it gained by spending $102 million on Sanera Systems in 2003 (see McData Completes Sanera Acquisition).

The i10K is barely out of the starting gate from its January rollout, while UMD got off to a strong start in generating sales for CNT (see McData's Ready for Rollout).

“This eliminates any redundancy across the McData and CNT product line,” Kelley says. “The UMD has done well on the market, but the i10K is an equally good product.”