From rumours of a major vendor heading towards bankruptcy to a new chat feature on an email platform, here are some extracts from popular news stories this week.
Avaya is Potentially Facing Chapter 11 Bankruptcy for the Second Time
Avaya is reaching a chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in an effort to restructure its balance sheet and turn its businesses and financial problems around, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The report states that Avaya has said there was “substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern in light of debt maturity next year”.
A chapter 11 bankruptcy would involve Avaya proposing a plan of reorganisation to keep its business alive and pay creditors over time.
If the company does enter chapter 11, it would be for the second time in five years due to a previous bankruptcy filing in January 2017.
Avaya then exited the chapter 11 measures before listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 2018.
Things did initially appear to be on the up for Avaya; however, it has been a troubled few months for the vendor, which has seen the company change CEO and announce redundancies.
Cisco Commences 5% of Workforce Lay Offs
Digital communications multinational Cisco has begun cutting jobs from its 80,000-strong workforce, as it announced it would do in mid-November.
Four-thousand workers are expected to lose their positions in a shake-up that includes office space sell-offs, employee reshuffles and rejuvenated targeting of security and networking.
The planned layoffs follow a highest-ever revenue for Q1 with its Q4 2022 results leaving them ahead on revenue with $13. 10 billion, higher than the expected $12.73 billion. Despite this, overall revenue was down 6% to $2.82 billion.
Ex-Workers Report Job Losses
Employees who had lost their jobs announced their redundancies on TheLayOff.com and Blind while looking for advice on tech jobs and severance payments.
One disgruntled anonymous ex-employee on TheLayOff.com commented that during their time at the firm: “It was common knowledge that Cisco applies forced ranking and “manages out” the “bottom 5%” every year.”
Forced ranking is a system where staff are rated from best to worst based on their performance.
Cisco CFOP Scott Herren had already explained that “this really is a rebalancing” in last month’s earnings call with analysts and investors.
Microsoft Teams Chat is Coming to Outlook
Microsoft Outlook users will soon be able to use Teams chat via the email platform as Microsoft looks to introduce ‘Teams Chat from Outlook Meetings’.
According to the Microsoft 365 roadmap webpage, the company aims to provide an “easy Teams chat experience” for Outlook users.
The post states that the chat messages will be in the “context of a meeting for participants to send a quick message or review the chat”.
Reports suggest that the feature will allow users to quickly send or review messages without opening up the Microsoft Teams platform separately.
Microsoft hasn’t released much detail on how the feature will work however there is speculation that it will likely be an expansion to the Teams functions currently integrated with Outlook.
The feature is currently listed as “in development”, with a release date set for March 2023. According to the post, it will be available to all Microsoft Outlook users.
RingCentral Picks Director for Avaya’s Board
Following a nomination from RingCentral, Avaya has announced it is appointing Jill Frizzley to its Board of Directors with immediate effect.
Ms Frizzley has more than 20 years of experience on boards counselling on financial restructuring, mergers and acquisitions.
In accordance with its strategic partnership with Avaya, the appointment followed a proposal by RingCentral. Avaya has also stated it “remains committed to a strategic partnership with RingCentral”.
The strategic partnership focuses on the two firm’s shared product: Avaya Cloud Office powered by RingCentral, launched in 2020.
Alan Masarek, Chief Executive Officer, Avaya, stated:
“I look forward to working closely with Jill and benefitting from her deep expertise as we continue taking steps to strengthen Avaya for long-term success.”
In a press release delivered to the financial markets, Avaya announced the change, together with the carefully worded news about disclosing “certain business information that it confidentially shared with certain of its financial stakeholders”.
Although publicly disclosed, the information was not directly available in the press release.
It is known, however, that the information was distributed with reference to talks with financial stakeholders to find a resolution concerning the company balance sheet and keeping Avaya navigated toward long-term prosperity.
Zoom Boosts Productivity by Adding Salesforce to Team Chat
Zoom has announced that a Salesforce App for Zoom Team Chat is now available for users.
The integration of Salesforce to Team Chat is part of Zoom’s promise to make it a “hub of collaboration”.
Zoom first introduced Apps for Team Chat at Zoomtopia last month to allow users to bring everyday work tasks into the space where conversations take place.
David Ball, Product Marketing Manager, Zoom Meetings and Chat, commented: “Collaborating in Zoom Team Chat is so much more than just a series of messages or chat conversations.
“It’s about getting work done and working with others in a way that is easy, enjoyable, and efficient.
“As Team Chat continues to transform into a hub of collaboration, we know that integrating apps into your Team Chat experience is critical.
“Last month at Zoomtopia, we officially announced the introduction of Apps for Team Chat, which allow you to bring everyday work tasks into the space where conversations and decisions are happening.
“Building on the recent releases of the Jira App and ServiceNow Virtual Agent, we are thrilled to announce that the Salesforce App for Zoom Team Chat, one of our most requested applications, is now available for you to use.”
Zoom states that integrating Salesforce into Team Chat helps customers to boost productivity by accessing and updating important customer information without having to about switching applications.
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