Rivka Little

Nortel for sale … maybe

Nortel is mulling over bids worth nearly $1 billion for its Metro Ethernet Networks (MEN) unit.

Nortel placed the MEN unit — one of the healthiest divisions in the company — on the block in September to slash costs and earn some cash, but now the company is taking its time deciding on a bidder, The Globe and Mail of Canada reported this week. Continued »

Strange bedfellows: John Chambers and Barack Obama

It’s a funny thing Cisco CEO John Chambers was such a strong John McCain supporter since it’s actually president elect Barack Obama’s administration that is likely to boost the company’s shares and stabilize business during rough times. Continued »

Will Cisco sit out an appeal in the Infra-Comm case?

Cisco Systems hasn’t yet filed for an appeal in the Infra-Comm case and it only has about six weeks left to do so. Continued »

Is there anyone not trying to steal Nortel partners?

Seems Juniper Networks is not the only buzzard swooping over the potential ruins of Nortel to snatch its channel partners.

John Wrona, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Nortel partner Ronco Communications, said he’s been hit up by AT&T, Avaya, Siemens and Cisco in the past month or so. Nortel’s shares have been trading at below a buck since November 7 and analysts predict the company will fold or be sold. Continued »

Cisco imposes week-long US and Canada operations shutdown to slash spending

When Cisco CEO John Chambers says he plans to slash spending, he means it. Cisco has implemented a mandatory shutdown of U.S. and Canadian operations between December 29 and January 2.

During his fiscal year ’09 Q1 report, Chambers said the company would reduce expenses by $1 billion, slashing travel and discretionary-related expenses, including events, tradeshows, marketing and other activities.

Continued »

Juniper’s KJ the new Yahoo chief? Microsoft-Yahoo dance continues?

Juniper CEO (and former Microsoft exec) Kevin Johnson is a pundit favorite to replace outgoing Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang.

Huh? Didn’t KJ just get a new job? Continued »

Cisco VARs consolidate: INX acquires NetTeks

INX Inc. snapped up Cisco VAR NetTeks Technology Consultants this week, continuing a trend in VAR consolidation.

The acquisition went for an initial $1.35 million in cash and 30,770 shares, with a potential payout of $2.8 million if NetTeks hits performance targets. NetTeks saw revenue of approximately $12.7 million for the 12 months ending September 30, 2008. Continued »

Nortel in too deep; analysts say sale coming

Nortel is in bigger trouble than some even suspected. Monday the company reported a $3.41 billion loss in the third quarter and announced it would slash 1,300 jobs.

Most stunning about the announcement was that the first four employees to go were senior executives. Their departure is part of a plan to restructure the company into business units without a heavy corporate structure at the top, executives said.

It’s no wonder investors are betting on a sale of the company. Continued »

Cisco predicts sales to drop in Q2; will ride out storm with hiring freeze

Cisco CEO John Chambers said Wednesday afternoon during a Q1 earnings call that he expects sales to fall 5 to 10% in the second quarter and that the company will go on a $1 billion cost cutting campaign, halting hiring as one of many maneuvers. The good news is that Chambers didn’t lower long term growth predictions of 12 to 17%. Continued »

Could hosted services spur tension between distributor and partner?

San Diego — Ingram Micro CEO Greg Spierkel faced a funny question from partners at the VentureTech Network (VTN) conference here Thursday morning: “What do we do that drives you crazy?”

Spierkel’s answer?

“Buying from my competitors.” Continued »