Nortel Networks Corporation (NYSE: NT) with revenues of $11.4 billion in 2006 is a global supplier of networking solutions to both service providers and enterprises. It is a leader in delivering VoIP and Wide Area Networking to carrier customers, holds the number-two position in providing carriers with optical equipment, is the number-one provider of total enterprise telephony lines, and is the second-largest provider of IP business telephony. Its business is organized in four segments: Carrier Networks (CN), Enterprise Solutions (ES) Global Services (GS), and Metro Ethernet Networks (MEN).
Nortel anticipates increase in demand for wireless networking solutions due to network traffic growth to support applications such as mobile video. To cater to this demand, it plans to increase its investment in metro Ethernet to support video delivery over wired as well as wireless access and in next generation products. To capitalize on the trend towards IP converged networks, it is trying to focus on the enterprise market and strengthen its end-to-end convergence solutions.
In 2006, it acquired Tasman Networks to strengthen its data networking portfolio and formed a strategic alliance with Microsoft to accelerate availability of unified communications. In 2005, it formed a joint venture with LG Electronics. In March this year, it announced that it would offer its own set-top box to carriers as part of its IPTV strategy. The set top boxes would be manufactured by its LG-Nortel joint venture.
In May 2007, Nortel announced its Nortel Hosted Solutions for enterprises and service providers. The portfolio, with a strong focus on the enterprise segment includes IP telephony, unified communications, automatic call distribution (ACD), contact centers and other network application services delivered to enterprises through service providers using equipment owned and managed by Nortel. It has also entered into an agreement with Polycom to jointly deliver telepresence and high definition (HD) video conferencing solutions to enterprises.
On the financial front, Nortel reported revenues of $2.56 billion in Q2 2007, a decrease of 8% compared to Q2 2006. Revenues decreased in the CN, MEN and GS segments, partially offset by an increase in the ES segment. The decline in revenue was mainly due to UMTS Access divestiture in 2006. It also reported net loss of $37 million compared to earnings of $342 million in Q2 2006. In Q1 2007, Nortel announced its 2007 Restructuring Plan which would reduce its workforce by 2,900 employees and shift approximately 1,000 positions from higher-cost to lower-cost locations. This plan is expected to save $400 million annually.
Nortel’s market cap is $7.47 billion, well below its annual revenue number. Its stock is on a downward trend since February this year when it had reached a high of $31.6. It is currently hovering around $17.
As the online video driven networking equipment market momentum marches on, a distinct possibility is that Cisco’s competitors would consolidate as a combined force. Today, the networking industry is represented as Cisco and the Seven Dwarfs. Well, if at least 3-4 of the dwarfs get together, the chances of actually being able to compete in specific markets would become higher. In fact, the combination of Nortel, 3Com and Polycom would create more efficient industry dynamics, whereby, rather than also having to compete amongst each other, they can focus their combined energy on competing with Cisco. It would also create a larger entity (although still only one-third the size of Cisco) that has product offerings in most of the important segments on the networking market, from Carriers, to Enterprise, to SME. The missing pieces need to be brought together from the other dwarfs, some of which we will explore this week.
In the meantime, Nortel, like 3Com, needs to continue cleaning up its house.
Showing posts with label PubCon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PubCon. Show all posts
Monday, January 12, 2009
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Gasta Ready for the New search3.0 wave
At PubCon, Bruce Clay, Inc. President Bruce Clay presented at a session entitled "Top-Shelf Organic SEO" in which he discussed the approaching future of SEO as search engines evolve into more modern ranking methods. Bruce was good enough to take the time to speak with our own Michael McDonald in a one-on-one interview, which can be viewed in the video below.
Behavior Based Search
Bruce says that everybody who does a search will end up with different search results based on their prior search history. Personalization is going to be "web-wide" using third party cookies and things.
He provided a specific example of a search for "java". Some are looking for programming, some are looking for the beverage, and some are looking for travel information. Theoretically, the search engines will know that and provide results accordingly.
"We can't search for any term and look at rankings because I can get different results than you for exactly the same query. So that's going to change a lot," he says. It doesn't matter if you're logged into Google or not. Bruce believes that personalized results will be coming out within the first quarter of next year.
Intent-based Search
Google has been looking up your IP and revising results based on IP. They know where you're located and can make assumptions about the intent of your search. As you get more into intent-based search, it's going to change the way pages rank, Bruce explains. "The page that ranks for a shopping query is an entirely different architecture than the page that ranks for a research query."
Where Does this Leave the SEO Crowd?
"Ranking is dead," says Bruce, recalling his words from his presentation. Going forward, he says you're going to have to look at analytics, measure traffic, bounce rates, action, etc. SEOs will have to ask themselves questions like:
- Did I get the conversion I was after?
- Did I really deliver on the promise of SEO?
Bruce thinks that in the first six months of 2009, we're going to see a lot more implementation of behavior and intent-based search leading to a mindset of "ranking is dead, and traffic is all that matters."
Universal Search
Bruce ClayBruce says this will be the most significant factor of 2009. Google looks at soundtracks and convert them to text. They can jump into the middle of videos, scan sites to determine if you have video/images or not. There are a lot of variables in universal search, and some of these variables tell how engaging your site is.
If you don't have video and your competition does, Bruce thinks we're going to see a big shift in rankings. He thinks if the top ten sites don't have video, they may lose their ranking over night.
Bruce notes that Google has been testing some of these variables, and will really start testing them a lot more in the first quarter, once the holidays are out of the way. He mentions the criticism Google took over the Florida Update, which took place in the month of November, and believes the company wants to avoid that again. He thinks we're going to see a lot of "Google Dances" early in the year though.
The Impact on Spam
According to Bruce, this is all going to really help Google fight spammers. He says it will affect the way scrapers and spammers work, because if they are just scraping text, they wouldn't be able to rank.
He also says that all of the variables that come into play may diminish the value of linking, which will certainly not help the spammers' cause either. He says it will be a big win for Google, and big win for the searchers.
There's no question that if everything Bruce talked about comes true, the SEO world will be turned on its ear. Bruce says, "If you're not ready for it as an SEO, you're gonna lose."
Behavior Based Search
Bruce says that everybody who does a search will end up with different search results based on their prior search history. Personalization is going to be "web-wide" using third party cookies and things.
He provided a specific example of a search for "java". Some are looking for programming, some are looking for the beverage, and some are looking for travel information. Theoretically, the search engines will know that and provide results accordingly.
"We can't search for any term and look at rankings because I can get different results than you for exactly the same query. So that's going to change a lot," he says. It doesn't matter if you're logged into Google or not. Bruce believes that personalized results will be coming out within the first quarter of next year.
Intent-based Search
Google has been looking up your IP and revising results based on IP. They know where you're located and can make assumptions about the intent of your search. As you get more into intent-based search, it's going to change the way pages rank, Bruce explains. "The page that ranks for a shopping query is an entirely different architecture than the page that ranks for a research query."
Where Does this Leave the SEO Crowd?
"Ranking is dead," says Bruce, recalling his words from his presentation. Going forward, he says you're going to have to look at analytics, measure traffic, bounce rates, action, etc. SEOs will have to ask themselves questions like:
- Did I get the conversion I was after?
- Did I really deliver on the promise of SEO?
Bruce thinks that in the first six months of 2009, we're going to see a lot more implementation of behavior and intent-based search leading to a mindset of "ranking is dead, and traffic is all that matters."
Universal Search
Bruce ClayBruce says this will be the most significant factor of 2009. Google looks at soundtracks and convert them to text. They can jump into the middle of videos, scan sites to determine if you have video/images or not. There are a lot of variables in universal search, and some of these variables tell how engaging your site is.
If you don't have video and your competition does, Bruce thinks we're going to see a big shift in rankings. He thinks if the top ten sites don't have video, they may lose their ranking over night.
Bruce notes that Google has been testing some of these variables, and will really start testing them a lot more in the first quarter, once the holidays are out of the way. He mentions the criticism Google took over the Florida Update, which took place in the month of November, and believes the company wants to avoid that again. He thinks we're going to see a lot of "Google Dances" early in the year though.
The Impact on Spam
According to Bruce, this is all going to really help Google fight spammers. He says it will affect the way scrapers and spammers work, because if they are just scraping text, they wouldn't be able to rank.
He also says that all of the variables that come into play may diminish the value of linking, which will certainly not help the spammers' cause either. He says it will be a big win for Google, and big win for the searchers.
There's no question that if everything Bruce talked about comes true, the SEO world will be turned on its ear. Bruce says, "If you're not ready for it as an SEO, you're gonna lose."
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