Nortel unveils intelligent networking products

NEW DELHI: Nortel has introduced two new products, Passport 8600 Layer 2-7

Switching platform for intelligent networking and Alteon Switched Firewall for

security solutions.

The former product is a combination of its existing products Passport and

Layer 2-7 Switch, which are said to be the most widely deployed products amongst

Indian call centers and data centers. The latter is targeted at providing

security solutions for service providers and enterprises without affecting their

performance levels.

Typically whenever security solutions are deployed, it brings down the

service levels of the networks but Nortel's product offloads the encryption on a

separate appliance from the server and therefore performance levels remain

unaffected.

Targeted at service providers and enterprises, Nortel officials say it does

not expect the slowdown to affect its performance because, they feel, the call

center segment is expected to boom in the wake of the slowdown as more and more

US companies are looking towards outsourcing their business needs.

Speaking about the recent closing down of Nortel's R&D activities in the

country, Sanjay Jotshi, country manager, Intelligent Internet, Nortel Networks,

said that it was due to certain refocusing activities which the company

initiated at the global level.

In a recent refocusing exercise by the company, it has decided to focus on

optical long haul, wireless and optical networks. The company's earlier focus on

segments like legacy products (which include TDM products, BRS switches and base

stack layer II switches from Bay Networks) have been done away with. As a result

several R&D centers across the world including Indian operations had to be

shut.

He also reiterated that security solutions would be one of the new focus

areas of the company.