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Frost Chairman to CEOs: Carpe Diem

March 12, 2008

In the wake of bad economic news — yesterday’s 400+ point Dow Jones rally notwithstanding — many CEOs are faced with tough decisions as they map out the future of their companies, asking themselves, does it make sense to forestall growth until the downturn passes?   Frost & Sullivan’s chairman takes a bullish position on how he thinks today’s business leaders should approach the current climate of financial uncertainty. Check out this article and take a look at the list of recommendations the analyst firm puts forth for chief executives to consider.

Stocks Hit Hard, But Some Bright Spots?

September 30, 2008

  

The stock slide which was precipitated by yesterday's failure by the House of Representatives to approve a bailout package for the ailing economy was a doozy.   The Dow fell 777 points and the only people smiling are the traders who make their living off volatility.   Lest you think that the tech sector was spared, stocks in such bellwether companies as Apple and Google fell hard. On the NASDAQ exchange, Apple closed down 17.9 percent, or $22.98, at $105.26 and Google ended off $50.04, or 11.6 percent, at $381.00.   Research in Motion, Nokia, Microsoft... shareholders all felt the pain.   Early reports this morning are showing a slight bounce after yesterday's massive selloff.   At 4:30 a.m. EDT, Reuters was reporting that S&P 500 futures were up 2.7 percent, Dow Jones futures up 1.8 percent and NASDAQ 100 futures were up 2 percent.   We'll see what transpires when markets open today.   Of course more importantly, we need to wait to see how all this turbulence will affect our IP communications and related markets.

Rich Does Wall Street; Nortel Does Hospitality

October 28, 2008

Rich is down at the NY Stock Exchange this morning attending an event sponsored by Nortel and featuring Nortel executives Araldo Menegon, VP Northeast Region, and Joel Hackney, President of Nortel's Enterprise group, as well as a keynote by Don Tapscott, author and enterprise 2.0 strategist. In his blog, Rich mentions some Nortel news that was released this morning: One item was an announcement that Nortel's Unified Communications solution was deployed at Miraval Resort and Spa in Tucson turning it into an "all-IP resort." Nortel apparently hit the hospitality market hard today, announcing hotel/spa deployments in Dubai, Vancouver, and Las Vegas as well.

Avaya Announces Changes at the Top

October 30, 2008



Avaya is announcing that Kevin Kennedy - currently CEO of JDS Uniphase Corporation - will join the company as president and CEO in January 2009. Avaya also said that Charles Giancarlo will become Chairman of the Board when Kennedy assumes the CEO position.

Kennedy is a member of the board of directors of Polycom, Inc. and KLA-Tencor Corporation and a member of the Board of Regents of Loyola Marymount University. He holds a B.S. in engineering from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, as well as M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in engineering from Rutgers University.


 

IntelePeer Secures $18 Million in Third Round

November 12, 2008

VantagePoint Venture Partners of San Bruno, California has led an $18 million dollar round of financing of IntelePeer Inc. This was the company's third round of financing.   All things being equal, it's fair to say that it's no small feat to attract such a significant amount in such an uncertain economic climate. IntelePeer will use the funds to continue their expansion plans, increase their global presence and support continued growth of their hosted voice 2.0 and rich media technologies.   According to Bill Harding, VantagePoint managing director, and the newest member of the IntelePeer Board of Directors, "IntelePeer is uniquely positioned with its game-changing strategy to address the need to reduce operational costs with an innovative hosted Voice 2.0 applications platform and carrier-class voice peering infrastructure."   Congratulations to the entire team at IntelePeer.

Web 2.0 Apps Driving Online Holiday Sales

November 24, 2008

It probably won't come as a shock to anyone, but consumers increasingly plan to make at least some of their purchases online this holiday season, driven in part by maturing Web 2.0 apps.   According to a 'Web 2.0 for Business' outfit known as WorkLight, the online shopping world is in the midst of a sea change due to the proliferation of next-generation Web 2.0 tools.   According to David Lavenda, WorkLight's vice president of marketing and product strategy:   "Online shoppers are now interacting with retailers in much more meaningful ways; ways that transcend the traditional online portal experience. Retailers who invested in meeting customers where they spend their time online -- on social networks, desktop and web-based widgets and gadgets, mobile apps and more -- will be able to cash in on this consumer groundswell. Being able to meet customers through Web 2.0 will be a strategic advantage to gaining significant holiday market share."   Several reports bear these facts out. According to a Shop.org analysis, a quarter of retailers has invested in a Facebook page this year, and according to a Deloitte study, 21 per cent of consumers surveyed plan to shop online this holiday season (up from 19 per cent last year).

Zinnov Releases Survey Findings

November 26, 2008

A management consulting firm has released the findings of a recently conducted survey of senior executives from the R&D industry at its 'R&D Globalization Council' held earlier this month.

 

Zinnov surveyed research and development experts representing over 50 of the leading technology companies at the meeting.

 

The survey explored how the current global economic crisis is impacting efforts by these global technology companies to innovate new products. It appears that the constant stream of economic doom and gloom notwithstanding, these companies expect brighter days ahead in the not too distant future.

 

Some of the findings included:

 

·         Despite the current state of the economy, only 27% of the respondents plan a "slowdown in growth" of their Global R&D initiatives.

·         "Reduced travel" was cited as the number one response to the downturn (34%), with a freeze on hiring being the second-leading answer at 29%.

Sangoma to Buy Own Shares

December 11, 2008

Sangoma Technologies Corporation today announced the company will purchase its own common shares for cancellation through the facilities of the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) at the prevailing market price of the common shares. 

For more information, check out this article.

Great Explanation of Universal Service Fund

December 19, 2008

Fred Goldstein, principal of Ionary Consulting (and a featured TMC columnist) has an excellent explanation of the Universal Service Fund (USF), with an insightful history of the fund as well as a good recounting of the many challenges associated with this "FCC boondoggle" as he calls it. It's definitely worth the read. In these challenging economic times, it's interesting to see how this money is being spent and then judge whether or not it makes sense.

5LINX Picks Up Kancharla's Wholesale Services Group

December 19, 2008

5LINX Enterprises, Inc., is acquiring the Wholesale Services Group, of Kancharla Corporation, which including Business, Residential, E911, DID Services and the A-Z Origination/Termination services. These offerings will be immediately available through GLOBALINX, 5LINX's wholly owned subsidiary.   Kancharla will continue to offer the standalone and branded versions of its LeftSeat Billing/OSS software solution.   Mike Machonkin, GLOBALINX Vice President of Sales & Marketing is excited about the deal and believes that it will be good for customers and channel partners alike.   "With the acquisition of Kancharla's wholesale services, GLOBALINX is further demonstrating our commitment to provide our GLOBALINX Customers, Agents and Resellers with the most robust portfolio of products and services available on the market today," Machonkin said.  
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