Mitel has always had great technology – I sound like a broken record don’t I? Yet they haven’t found their way to market their company or properly position it in the market. The result of lack of PR and marketing vision has cost it in the marketplace as companies like ShoreTel have taken share by being persistent, branding well and positioning Mitel for them.

The one constant in business is that if you don’t position yourself, someone else (typically the competition) will gladly do it for you.

You may recall I compared Mitel to ShoreTel some months back, criticizing Mitel for a number of reasons. I then followed up with a post about how how the company is betting the farm so to speak on virtualized communications.

Sadly I received an email from a Mitel employee today which explained that there is a nationwide workforce reduction causing this person to be let go. I haven’t had a chance to determine how big the reduction is (the company did not immediately respond to my email) but if you are in the know please comment below or shoot me a message so I can update this post.

Update: PR agency reached out – said this post is not accurate. Still haven’t connected.

Update 2: The company is telling me this is not a massive reduction, it is part of a restructuring specifically to not compete with the channel. Moreover, last weeks quarterly earnings exceeded guidance and they have raised guidance for the next quarter. The outlook is positive acceding to the firm’s spokesperson. Further updates coming.

Update 3: My source tells me 211 people were let go. Still awaiting confirmation from Mitel. This is out of about 2,100 employees.