While the rest of the UC Strategies crew is wrestling with the larger ramifications of the SEN 49-51% partnership with the Gores Group, I look at things from the mobility, wireless and mobile UC perspectives. In that view, there is some obvious product overlap between Siemens and Gores’ other major holding Enterasys. However, mobility could be the joint venture’s ace-in-the-hole.
Enterasys’ core product line is built around LAN switches, routers, network access control, and intrusion detection systems, but they also sell the RoamAbout WLAN switch product line provided by Trapeze Networks. Trapeze is a direct competitor to Siemens’ Chantry Networks division, so the obvious outcome is that Enterasys cuts its ties to Trapeze and starts pushing the Chantry line. The Enterasys-Trapeze relationship got a jolt last month when Trapeze was acquired by Belden. In an open letter to customers, Enterasys talked-up the benefits to customers and the strength of their ongoing relationship with Trapeze- new day, new relationship.
The picture with regard to other elements in the wireless area is more confused. WLAN switch solutions today incorporate elements from specialty suppliers or “technology partners” for functions like location (AeroScout, Ekahau, and Newbury Networks) and wireless intrusion detection (AirMagnet, AirDefense, AirWave, AirTight). Those alliances are also in a state of flux, but if Enterasys picks up the Chantry product line as we suspect, the Chantry partners come along as part of the deal.
The picture is less clear if we include the wired network in the picture. Cisco is still the 800-pound gorilla in network infrastructure, and an Enterasys-Siemens combination is not likely to have much impact on that. For the majority of customers, the configuration of a UC-capable IP PBX solution from Siemens will still have Cisco’s wired infrastructure products at the core.
The wireless business is at a different stage of development however, and in that area the outcome is not so certain. Siemens has developed their own fixed-mobile convergence solution in their MobileConnect offering and it features an automatic handoff capability. Cisco had to partner with Agito to provide their FMC offering. MobileConnect offers a tight coupling with Siemens’ OpenScape unified communications platform, so they also come up strong in mobile UC. The key to their success in battling Cisco will be to deliver a more functional UC-capable mobility solution drawing on their integrated product line.
On the macro level, the evolution of the PBX business is characterized by a move toward software rather than hardware as the key differentiator; Siemens is well positioned to capitalize on that. Siemens’ ability to deliver their own Enterasys provided infrastructure from will become less and less important, as customers shift from buying iron to buying solutions. In the interim, Siemens will be able to deliver the full UC-capable/IP PBX solution including the wired and wireless network infrastructure it operates on.
The best news for SEN is that they are now out from beneath the cloud of uncertainty that has dogged them while the industry waited to see who their new ownership would be. With their business direction defined, SEN can now compete on the strengths of their product line and not be victimized by fear, uncertainty, and doubt.