For decades, we have seen traditional telecommunications companies bought, merged, sold and head into bankruptcy with substantial disruptive impact on clients and the industry.
- 1984 – Rolm sold to IBM then to Siemens (1992), now Unify; the Rolm brand was laid to rest in the late 1990s and Siemens was purchased by ATOS in 2016.
- 1987 – TIE Communications buys ABI. Mergers and acquisitions lay the TIE brand to rest by the mid-1990s.
- 1987 – Executone purchased by Isotech and Vodavi; company goes dark by 1994 as a major industry provider.
- 1999 – 3Com acquires NBX and its Ethernet phone system.
- 2001 – Fujitsu abruptly exits the US marketplace.
- 2007 – Intertel purchased by Mitel.
- 2008 – Aastra acquires the enterprise PBX division of Ericsson including InteCom.
- 2009 – Nortel bankruptcy – assets sold to Avaya.
- 2010 – 3Com sold to HP; telecommunications division is discontinued.
- 2013 – Mitel, on a buying and selling spree, acquires Prairie Eye and Aastra assets and buys a cellular firm – only to sell it two years later.
- 2016 – Aspect Software, a contact center provider, files and emerges from bankruptcy.
- 2017 – Avaya files for chapter 11 bankruptcy.
- 2017 – Toshiba abruptly exits the US marketplace, signing an MoU with Mitel to take over its customer base.
As a potential client, you may need trading cards and a lineage map to keep up with the escalating changes occurring in the industry. With the advent of the internet and “cloud” technologies, hundreds of new voice providers have emerged in the last decade. From carriers to VoIP systems to contact center options, the market is flush. Yet industry pundits continue to suggest that in the ensuing decades less than a dozen viable manufacturers will remain.
Contact our consulting team can help you navigate the industry and determine the most viable platform for your firm.
