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THE SWITCH IS ON as Cabletron Systems Inc. is aiming at taking market share away from high-profile rivals such as 3Com Corp. and Bay Networks Inc. as the vendor unveiled a pair of new desktop switches.
"This rounds out our overall ability to bring forth a solution across the board from the highend data center to the low-end desktop solution," said Sue Sabatino, program director for Cabletron's desktop switches.
The company's damaged reputation in the channel, however, may be the primary obstacle to success for the new product line. As the company moves further toward the edge of the network, the role of VARs and integrators becomes increasingly crucial, analysts said. Although Cabletron made substantial efforts in the past year to rebuild its channel image, many resellers feel they were wronged by the vendor in the past and have not been extremely eager to mend fences. Basic economics will likely determine whether or not that actually will happen.
"Cabletron is trying to make good on this commitment to play ball with the channel, and I think it's a very positive thing for them to be doing," said John Armstrong, networking analyst with Dataquest Inc., San Jose, Calif. "They have a new guy on board, [President and Chief Executive] Don Reed, which could make it a lot easier. Don is genuinely interested in making things work in...