If you had occasion to deal with 3Com in Canada during this decade then you probably knew Nick Tidd, the former country manager who in recent years has traveled the globe preaching the networking gospel of a dying company.
Earlier this month, Nick Tidd the long time face of the company who had been a one-man show for 3Com in Canada was finally relieved of his job.
3Com has been spinning its wheels for a long time. Since the high-tech crash of 2000, 3Com has been a rapidly declining and ultimately insignificant industry player. It wasn’t the case when Tidd joined the company from U.S. Robotics back in the 1990s. It’s hard to believe that at one time 3Com and Cisco Systems were equals in terms of revenue and market share.
With Tidd now gone at 3Com one wonders why a Canadian channel partner would continue reselling its products.
Tidd did yeoman’s work. Tidd devoted a good chunk of his life to the 3Com Canada mission. Tidd told me he may have managed to spend about nine weeks out of the past three years with his family, due to the demands of his work with 3Com. Tidd was a great 3Com spokesperson – well informed, personable and passionate.
He reportedly has amassed a channel network of more than 107,000 solution providers for 3Com – perhaps some that are marginal and others that are solid businesses, but you have to applaud Tidd’s skills as a recruiter and his effort to make 3Com a major player in the channel.
Once upon a time, 3Com was a major networking equipment leader. Tidd is a symbolic reminder of the good times for 3Com in Canada. Now there is very little left. Strategic initiatives such as the long-ago acquisition of router maker Chipcom, and failed partnerships with Huawei and Open Services Networking perhaps help to explain where things went wrong.
With the exit of Nick Tidd, the face of 3Com in Canada has also entirely disappeared. We give him credit for putting up a long and hard fight, even though in retrospect it may have been a lost cause.
One quick hit before I go. PR practitioner Donna Murno, who handled Cisco Canada as well as Dimension Data Canada, is leaving Canada for her home in Boston. She was a tremendous asset to the reporters here at CDN and a IT World Canada. I wish her all the best in her future endeavours.
