Cisco competitor Avaya just got bigger

Closes Nortel enterprise buy this week

Avaya this week completed its acquisition of Nortel's Enterprise Solutions group, making the company an even more formidable competitor to Cisco and everyone else in enterprise telephony and unified communications. About 6,000 Nortel employees have joined Avaya, including 25 top managers like Joel Hackney, previously president of Nortel Enterprise Solutions.

Hackney joins the Avaya Executive Committee as senior vice president and president, Avaya Government Solutions and Data.

Avaya is now integrating the operations and customer care functions of the two organizations. The company expects to disclose a roadmap for the combined product portfolio within the next 30 days.

Depending on who you talk to, Avaya just extended its lead on Cisco in enterprise telephony by 10 percentage points or continues to lag behind its rival. In any event, Avaya just got bigger and more competitive; but the next 30 days will be critical for customers of the old Nortel Enterprise Solutions group.

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• Cisco
• Avaya
• competition
• mergers and acquisitions