Bill Wagner, President, Wagner Consulting

The Problem

If you have read my previous blogs, you know that I have been highly critical of company’s end of ____ notifications to their customers. The very customers who were loyal, and that paid their bills so the manufacturer could continue to operate. Loyalty should be a two-way street, but often is not. We have all experienced end of _____ for products we rely on. Some merely send an email with a PDF or web link, some are handled well, and others have been borderline dishonest.

I have witnessed firsthand companies that were unable to update their software and hardware because of financial mismanagement. Their choice was to hide this from their customers who believed that their devices were still viable and did not contain risky elements that were no longer supported. They could not produce an update or a replacement because of a lack of funding. They did not want to damage their reputations and let their competitors know their dire straits. They made ‘new’ components from old warehouse stock and bought their own back grey market items from auction websites and sold them as new. Such behavior is reprehensible.

Now let me tell you about my recent experience with NEC, and their exiting the PBX market. It was a Master Class in how to care for your customers, resellers, and partners.

The Solution

Founded in 1899, NEC has a long tradition of professionalism, and high-quality products and services. They are a large international firm with a diverse product portfolio. They have been a market leader in SMB PBX systems for many years. They offered powerful UCaaS and CCaaS services and have always been hailed as innovative. However, even the best of companies such as NEC face decisions on how to invest their capital. Recently they decided to exit the premises-based UC PBX market. But rather than run from this, they leaned into the decision and openly announced this to all customers and partners with sufficient advanced notice.

NEC did not stop there. They reached out to their partners and assisted them with the planning of their transition. We know that almost all firms OEM portions of their offerings. NEC went as far as to put their resellers and customers together with these OEMs and create webinar forums to ensure that the customers and partners had ongoing support, and the same products to offer and support into the future.

How often do you witness that level of loyalty and care for customers? This type of commitment does not just happen. It is a byproduct of an ethically managed business where values have cascaded from top to bottom, internally and externally. There is so much to be cynical about these days, however this duty of care is extraordinary, and I applaud them and their leadership for it, and wish them well in the future.

Conclusion

If you were affected by this announcement, you can join XOP and NEC on a webinar as they work with their customers and partners to transition NEC Meeting Center, and other features beyond the EOL date. Like NEC, XOP values their customers and works with partners who integrate and provide solutions to their customers. Contact your NEC account or product team for the date and time of this webinar, and rest assured that you will be cared for in the same loyal and professional manner that you became accustomed to from NEC. Well done!

Bill Wagner is a financial industry technology consultant with over 30 years’ experience as an industry executive in hardware, software, engineering, operations, R&D, product development and introduction, and strategic development.