Marlborough, Massachusetts-based CrossComm Corp is trying to respond to changes in the market with a restructuring that includes its engineering, marketing, and sales organisations. In terms of engineering, the alterations are pretty straightforward – the company is axeing development of its ILAN product, the company’s original offering, although the move does not affect the ILAN’s successor, the XL. CrossComm has also put development using IBM Corp’s Advanced Peer to Peer Networking on the back burner. As a result of this reorganisation, CrossComm is also to consolidate its engineering and marketing departments along product-oriented lines, into Ethernet switching, routing, and Asynchronous Transfer Mode groups. Each of these will report to Chris Vaughan, who has been promoted to the position of vice-president of technology; Vaughan is credited with being one of the leaders in the development of the company’s ClearPath strategy. In recognition that its direct sales-oriented approach has not given it the coverage it needs – sales in the US have been flat according to a spokesman – CrossComm is also now moving towards a value-added reseller approach. Brad Winkler, who signed up CrossComm’s first value-added resellers earlier this year, has now been promoted to run North American sales and, according to a spokesman, the company has a target of 50 resellers by the end of the year (it currently has a little over 30). Its existing sales force is not to be axed; however some of them will be involved in liaison with the new resellers, while others are to be moved into two units which are to be created. These will target telephone company and OEM sales, markets where CrossComm previously did not have a significant presence. CrossComm says it expects to take a charge $4m to $6m against this quarter’s figures covering costs of the restructuring, and to provide for asset valuation charges related to inventory, fixed assets, and other assets.
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