🔙 Throwback Thursday for 2024-12-26
Reflecting on my journey from Nortel in the '90s to the hybrid cloud with SAP’s evolution.
I was born in 1972. So was SAP.
20-ish years later, my early career started at Nortel Networks. By 1998, CRM and computer telephony interface (CTI) had become a big thing while the word Internet occurred ~35 times in the Nortel Networks Annual Report that year.
By 1999, CRM was big enough that Nortel Networks went on to buy Clarify.
https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/nortel-to-buy-software-maker-clarify/
At that time, I decided to leave Nortel Networks and chase .com consulting dreams for a few years as a globe trotting consultant. Meanwhile, SAP and Nortel did a CRM deal.
https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/sap-signs-software-deal-with-nortel/
A fear years later, SAP and the Nortel Networks + Clarify deal fell apart. So too did my .com dreams.
https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/sap-show-to-focus-on-e-business/
By 2009, Nortel no longer existed and I had been steadily heading in the direction of hybrid cloud services. Oddly enough, SAP was headed that way too.
https://www.techmeme.com/241224/p9#a241224p9
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