The PhoneBoy Blog

The Long Goodbye

04 Apr 2009

Over my 10 years in Nokia’s Security Appliance Business, I have met a lot of people. Many of these people worked in the business and moved onto other areas of Nokia. Others were the direct result of my “poking around.” At one point, I hoped that I could leverage some of these contacts to branch out into other areas of Nokia.

Then, a funny thing happened at the end of September 2008. Nokia announced they were selling the Security Appliance Business to an outside investor. We were to become a new, independent company. Shortly thereafter, the wheels fell off the economy and the credit market dried up. This made such a venture untenable.

Shortly before Christmas, Nokia announced we were being sold to Check Point Software . It wasn’t the original plan, but under the circumstances, it made the most sense.

Despite the uncertain economic climate, not to mention the uncertain future all of us faced, a funny thing happened. We all pulled together, tightened our belts a little, and forged ahead. Profitability continued. Epic amounts of customer satisfaction were attained. We showed incredible strength and determination. Every one of us.

Meanwhile, the rest of Nokia downsized and reorganized. The company is asked employees to volunteer for a layoff as well as ideas for cost savings. I would not be surprised if additional actions are being considered to ensure survival during this protracted recession.

Clearly, my days at Nokia are numbered. Some of us will end up at Check Point. Others, sadly will not. It’s not only a long goodbye to a company that has treated me well for 10+ years, but to a “family” of people I’ve worked with. While like all families, we disagreed at times, we all tried our best to “delight our customers” and be “very human” (to borrow a couple of Nokia’s values).

While it is goodbye to some, many of us will continue to work together as part of Check Point. Clearly, it won’t be the same as it was. I have hope that, in time, it will be much better than what we had.