The VAR Guy

“It’s just a flesh wound.” That infamous line came to mind when The VAR Guy learned when Nortel Networks, the imploding networking company, is a gold sponsor for Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference 2009 (WPC09) this week in New Orleans.

Even as Nortel struggles to break itself up and sell off the pieces to the highest bidders, the networking company is at WPC09 talking about unified communications.

Sure, Microsoft and Nortel have worked closely together on unified communications. But as Nortel’s business tanked, Microsoft gradually distanced itself — at least symbolically — from the former networking giant.

A case in point: During the VoiceCon March 2009 conference in Orlando, Fla., Microsoft didn’t mention Nortel at all during a major keynote. In previous years, Microsoft and Nortel were seemingly joined at the hip at VoiceCon.

Fast forward to this week’s WPC09, and The VAR Guy will be poking around the vendor exhibits to see, hear and learn how channel partners react to Nortel’s presence and business pitch.

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