To accommodate the increasing number of online marketplaces, Nortel Networks Tuesday launched a unit that will offer B2B applications to enterprises and service providers.
Called the Clarify E-Business Applications unit, it will help clients manage
customer relationships and build virtual marketplaces. Nortel (NT)
enlisted Andersen Consulting to
deliver professional services to its clients.
Nortel said one of the functions of the new unit will be to decrease
deployment time of virtual marketplaces and services by six minths. It will
also offer real-time access to customer and inventory information via
handheld wireless Internet devices.
The new entity combines the recent acquisitions of Clarify and Periphonics
with Nortel Networks’ own capabilities in contact centers. Nortel will
integrate the company’s contact center capabilities with Clarify’s customer
relationship management (CRM) solutions and Periphonics’ advanced voice
recognition.
Based in San Jose, Calif., the Clarify E-Business Applications unit will
have 2,600 employees worldwide and includes such Fortune 500 customers as Charles Schwab Corp. (SCH)
and Qwest Communications Inc. (QWST).
Tony Zingale will serve as president of the new unit.
“Nortel Networks is ushering in the second wave of e-business, which
combines customer relationship management, contact centers, Web centers, and
the high performance Internet,” said F. William Conner, president,
enterprise solutions, Nortel Networks.
The new segment launch comes in the wake of a number of deals this month by
the Canadian optical Net firm, who bought optical component firm CoreTek
last Tuesday for $1.43 billion and switch provider Xros two weeks ago for
$3.25 billion.
