Nortel to launch voice products

BANGALORE, INDIA: Communication, the buzzword among enterprises, is seen as a ladder to achieve success. Communication, as a tool, is being embraced across all sectors as part of the business strategy to meet targets by increasing the productivity cost-effectively.

Incorporating the right communication system within the infrastructure simplifies the network and ensures better co-ordination among employees within the enterprise. Nortel, a recognized leader in delivering communications capabilities to service providers and enterprise customers, has been delivering innovative technology solutions encompassing end-to-end broadband, VoIP, multimedia services and applications, and wireless broadband for large and small enterprises.

In an interaction with CIOL's Ambika Prakash, E R Ashok Kumar, Director SMB, Nortel India, discusses Nortel's new product offerings for the SMBs and their focus in the days ahead. Excerpts from an interview:

CIOL: What new products are being targeted at SMBs by Nortel?

Ashok Kumar: In an effort to cater to the growing demands of customers, Nortel, in association with LG, is rolling out voice products. The products will hit the market under the brand name of LG and will be targeted at the SMBs. Unlike Cisco, Nortel's products incorporate both voice and data solutions.

CIOL: Among all of your products, which one has a major reach in the SMB market and why?

AK: Data networking has had a major reach among the SMBs. The products have unique features, such as connecting dozens of users and devices, enabling users to get connected to dozens of networks like PCs, IP phones, printers, servers, routers and wireless access points, etc., with one compact switch. Separate traffic into virtual LANs (VLANs) helps users to isolate internal and external traffic into logical networks so that one network can perform like several smaller private networks.

CIOL: What is SMB's contribution to Nortel in terms of percentage of revenue? What is the likely growth in the future? What steps are being initiated by the Nortel?

AK: Currently, SMB contributes 10 percent of the revenue to Nortel. We are expecting to increase this by another 15 percent by 2009, which means overall 25 percent. To meet the expectations, we are strengthening our resources, including manpower, marketing sector, etc. We have a dedicated SMB Center to work toward this.

CIOL: How are SMB customers looking at IT?

AK: The increasing penetration of computers and mobile phones in the enterprise segment has enabled the SMB customers to realise the importance of deploying IT in the emerging enterprises. With the growing awareness among entrepreneurs, it is clearly evident that SMB customers are looking at IT as a tool to boost productivity cost-effectively.

CIOL: What are the SMB verticals being targeted by Nortel?

AK: We are targeting products across multiple verticals. Retail, pharmaceuticals, automobile, textile and services have a lion's share.