Etisalat Egypt has joined the growing band of telcos that has replaced one vendor’s COTS RA system with another. Earlier this week, WeDo announced they were nearing completion of a three-phase implementation of their RAID system; see here. Anonymous sources indicate that Etisalat Egypt purchased WeDo’s RAID as a replacement for Connectiva’s OneReview.
Loyal talkRA readers will remember that Indian start-up Connectiva raised USD17mn in VC finance during 2008. Less than four years later, they silently collapsed, under the pressure of unpaid debts. Although the firm was later acquired by Mara-Ison, Etisalat Egypt’s decision proves two things. First, it was impossible to restore trust in a supplier that failed to communicate with its customers. Second, telco customers place an increasingly high value on knowing their supplier is financially sound and will be able to support and develop their product in the long run. The word from some telcos is that confidence in the future of WeDo currently gives them a significant competitive advantage over some rivals.
