Summary
1. Adtran’s new vice president of global marketing, Gary Bolton, is the type of low-key, nuts-and-bolts person that very much fits the supplier’s culture. 2. His previous criticism of the TA 5000 as a low-performance, Ethernet delivery box may come back to haunt him. 3. But Bolton always made it clear that he had the utmost respect for Adtran’s CEO and for his team, and that he viewed the supplier as an outstanding company.
Analysis
When he was at Hatteras, Bolton did view Adtran as the biggest competitive threat. And his move to the vendor could be interpreted that he has concluded that Ethernet over Copper (EoC) applications do not necessarily justify a purpose-built piece of gear. A Swiss Army-knife approach with just an EoC blade may be sufficient given the anticipated market growth. On the other side, despite the supposed advantages of the Hatteras product, there will be one fewer respected advocate for that Ethernet-centric solution.
Although Bolton will be responsible for several product areas, the TA 5000 will get a needed momentum boost with his arrival. His experience in going after international business for Hatteras will be invaluable.
In addition, Adtran could still be smarting from the time Bolton was at Catena. Although Adtran evidently won the ex-BellSouth RFP for its TA 1100, the RBOC insisted that it sell through the startup. With Bolton now on the team, there should be some psychological healing.
