DC player Jim Payne joins Telcordia

Veteran federal government marketer Jim Payne is joining Telcordia Technologies in a bid to raise the visibility and win contracts for this New Jersey-based network research shop.

Payne is well-known around the Beltway, having led Sprint’s successful FTS 2000 and FTS 2001 efforts in the 1990s to provide telecom services to federal agencies. Payne is credited with building up Qwest’s government services division earlier this decade, winning key contracts with the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense. In 2005, Payne joined Bechtel, where he led the construction company’s federal network division until now.

Payne faces a steep challenge in raising the profile of Telcordia, a 25-year-old research and development company that was founded when AT&T was split up.

Originally named Bellcore, Telcordia provided research and standards support to the seven Regional Bell Operating Companies. The company’s name was changed to Telcordia after it was purchased by federal contractor SAIC in 1997. SAIC sold the company to two private equity firms -- Providence Equity Partners and Warburg Pincus -- in 2004.

Telcordia created many aspects of today’s telecommunications system—including toll-free calling, Caller ID and e-mail attachments — but the firm hasn’t been able to leverage these innovations to become a household name.

``Only the most sophisticated communications engineers and network engineers really have a good understanding of what Telcordia has to offer,’’ says Ray Bjorklund, senior vice president with FedSources, a McLean, Va. market research firm. ``Taking that indepth talent that Telcordia has and putting it in a less Ivory Tower world – that would be a play for them in the federal market.’’

Payne plans to tout Telcordia’s expertise in network architecture, standards and cybersecurity to federal agencies.

``There needs to be an independent broker in the [federal market] that’s not trying to sell a box, that’s not trying to sell a circuit, that says this is the network design you should migrate to,’’ Payne says. ``The federal government must have a central vision across the DOD and the intelligence space.’’

Payne intends to pursue contracts with the Department of Homeland Security, the Defense Department and the intelligence community. He’s interested in providing strategic network engineering services to the Defense Information Systems Agency and the new U.S. Cyber Command.

``It’s time for Telcordia to raise its awareness,’’ Payne says. ``People don’t realize…that there’s this separate, independent organization that does the standards and the software that makes the U.S. telecommunications system work.’’

Payne’s official title is Senior Vice President/General Manager for National Security and Cyber Infrastructure in Telcordia’s Advanced Technology Solutions arm. He’ll work from Telcordia’s office in Arlington, Va.

``We have a very good base of business here,’’ Payne says. ``We need to expand tremendously our visibility…and proximity is everything.’’