On the distribution front, Nortel is tapping Ingram Micro, Synnex and Westcon to step up SMB partner recruitment, training and marketing, said Eric Schoch, vice president of North American marketing for channels and distribution at Nortel, Brampton, Ontario.
Nortel is committing to a fourfold increase in the personnel resources dedicated to the three distributors and, in return, they are bulking up on staff to support Nortel.
Fremont, Calif.-based Synnex, for example, has hired a dedicated team
of sales, engineering and marketing staff to support the Nortel SMB push,
while Ingram Micro, Santa Ana, Calif., is hiring two market development managers and beefing up on training and technical support personnel.
"Traditionally, Nortel's channel has not targeted [the SMB space], so the main objectives are two-fold: education of the existing partner base on how to and what to sell to the SMB market, as well as identifying new partners in the space and educating them on the benefits of the Nortel solution," said Anthony Daley, executive vice president for the Americas at Westcon, Tarrytown, N.Y.
Some solution providers said Nortel's expanded SMB portfolio opens the door for them to push converged voice and data solutions to the lower end of the SMB market. But perhaps even greater opportunities for the channel will come from the Nortel/Microsoft alliance, they said.
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
Maintaining existing network infrastructures often incurs huge technical debt before newer technologies are adopted over time.
Amid ongoing regional uncertainties, telecom infrastructure in the Middle East has expand to include terrestrial low-latency network infrastructure, which offers resilience and agility in navigating political complexities without relying solely on undersea networks.
