In a recent consultant conference call, Dana Rasmussen, President of Siemens (News - Alert) Communications, North America Marketing elaborated on the key elements of the venture.

 

The new organization includes 51% ownership by the Gores Group, LLC, a private equity firm and 49% ownership by Siemens Enterprise Communications (News - Alert) (also known as SEN). The joint venture, which will continue under the Siemens brand, includes two of Gores portfolio companies, Enterasys and SER Solutions (News - Alert). Intellectual property rights including patents and technology licenses of all entities are combined.

 

Mark Stone is Chairman and interim CEO with experience in execution and operational efficiencies. The mission is to deliver Unified Communications (News - Alert) (UC) Solutions and Converged Communications as catalysts to drive growth in the International and North American markets. The venture is well capitalized with Gore and Siemens investing 350 Million Euros for further innovation and integration across portfolio companies, and brand value on a global level. Siemens will continue to be a customer and part of the go to market strategy with other Siemens entities, including Siemens One to facilitate cross company involvement. This business transformation is expected to expand its footprint and product portfolio and to drive growth in key parts of the business.

 

 

Based in Andover, MA, Enterasys is a global provider of service Data Networks for enterprise customers. Its products include multilayer switches, core routers, WAN routers, wireless LANs, network management, and intrusion defense systems.

 

Based in Dulles, VA, SER Solutions delivers contact center management solutions on both hardware and software platforms. Supplied business activities include planned and proactive customer care, telemarketing, collections, fundraising, emergency notifications, and political calling.

 

Contribution of Enterasys (News - Alert) and SER will add to the joint venture’s capabilities in the data networks and software space, and accelerate the transformation of SEN that is already underway. Currently these companies will continue operations as 3 separate groups with the initial focus on cross-selling and cross-pollination. There will be a continued push for growth, including Siemens vertical markets in North America, especially in conjunction Medical and Building Technologies. For medical, there is currently UC development underway regarding secure patient record management.

 

 

This new joint venture continues Siemens commitment to the HiPath 3000, 4000 and 8000 communication servers and messaging systems, and the migration to its Open Unified Communications product portfolio. The OpenScape UC Suite currently includes:

 

 

 

 

Siemens earlier announced the OpenScape Contact Center, previously referred to as ProCenter Enterprise, with a new version of that system which includes the ability to use OpenScape Voice as a virtualization engine, to interwork multiple contact centers, and to provide SIP-based user agents who can be located anywhere.

 

Significantly, SER adds to OpenScape Contact Center with its software based Workforce Management, Quality Management and Speech Analytics solutions, moving the platform in the direction of an all-in-one solution.

 

According to Rasmussen, the alliance and cross-channel partners’ feedback has been very positive. The North America market has shown some growth this year, stimulated by the HiPath product line and the migration to VoIP. Contact Center has also grown with significant additions in new agent licenses and some growth in new systems. Another area of growth is being seen in Managed and Hosted Services, and continued growth is expected in VoIP and OpenScape UC, including Business Process Integration.

 

There was also an emphasis on providing a graceful and cost-effective migration to UC. Siemens has continued to support its customers’ investment going back to the acquisition of Rolm. Siemens will be investing in technology and programs to enable customers to migrate at their own pace in conjunction with Hosted and Managed Services.

 

Your comments, questions and ideas are welcome: elabanca@collabgen.com.