* Some of the most recognizable and trusted names in networking are under scrutiny
Some of the most recognizable and trusted names in networking are under scrutiny – both internally and from the U.S. Government – for manipulating the dates of stock option grants in order to further enrich their recipients.
Top executives at a couple of firms – storage switch maker Brocade and voicemail vendor Comverse – were recently served with criminal indictments. Comverse CEO Kobi Alexander is an international fugitive from justice for allegedly transferring $57 million to Israel and then fleeing there after indictments were handed down.
Others, such as Apple and Juniper, announced that they have to delay or restate earnings after internal investigations turned up evidence of option grant date manipulation.
For enterprises doing business with these companies, it’s a good time to keep tabs on the progress of these investigations and indictments. Depending on the severity of the infractions, the longevity of your vendors could be at stake.
“Stay tuned – closely,” states Nemertes Research President Johna Till Johnson in a recent Network World column. “It’s good to keep an eye on how companies are handling the scandal. If you’re in the midst of a procurement cycle, you may want to have one of your teams track breaking scandal news, because management instability or potential mergers could affect vendor viability.”
Or vendor integrity. One IT professional, whose organization uses products from a number of the companies currently being examined, says questionable financial doings by a vendor’s executive definitely reflects poorly on that vendor.
“I think this plays a part in whether or not I want to continue to do business with that vendor,” says Neil Buckley, manager of network security at Partners Healthcare System, which owns a network of hospitals, doctors, and community health centers in the Boston area. “If a vendor can’t be trusted at the CXO or board level, it can’t be trusted straight on through to their offering.”
