As part of the changes, Nortel is creating a single business unit that will focus on services in five areas: systems and network integration, security, network optimization, maintenance and managed services.

The Brampton, Ontario-based vendor "has provided services for years, but not [under] a separate, intentional strategy and business unit," said Curt Hopkins, Nortel's vice president of sales and marketing for global services.

Likewise, the company previously offered to manage multivendor networks through its operations centers. But now it will also handle repairs and spare-parts management for non-Nortel equipment, Hopkins said. He added that about half of the network components installed at a typical Nortel customer site are supplied by other vendors.

John Tichenor, chapter representative for the New York City Nortel Users Group, said the new services direction might help Nortel to be seen as comparable to Cisco Systems Inc., which often is credited by users for its strong services orientation. Tichenor is telecommunications manager at a law firm in Manhattan that uses both Nortel and Cisco gear. He asked that his employer not be identified.

Tichenor applauded Nortel's decision to start repairing networking devices from other vendors but said he isn't sure he would count on Nortel to fix his Cisco equipment. "It all depends on what level of repair [is required]," he said. "If you're simply swapping out a Cisco router, fine. But if it was a Cisco backbone switch with [throughput] fluctuations, I wouldn't want Nortel to handle that."