Thread regarding Extreme Networks Inc. layoffs

I have had confidence in Extreme Networks because of the manageability of their networking products. Unlike Cisco, who has lived with and sold a management system that is as convoluted as their product set, Extreme had and I hope still has a single understandable management system for all levels of their product set. I was disappointed that Extreme has not done well in the growth of networking in China and in the educational environments. I believe that Extreme would do well using a strong marketing strategy that stresses simplicity of product interface configurations, product management and network management.

I worked there for almost 4 years. It is a toxic "me first" culture that is unlike anywhere else I have ever worked. Run as far away as you can.

@2eyy+14Niizo7 Norm was with Enterasys before they were acquired by Extreme.

It’s so bad they even got rid of Anis P.

Well said. Most existing folks at Extreme are well served by the observations here.

Extreme Networks is where dreams go to die. Stay away!

Hmm, the Cabletron/Enterasys people don't necessarily have the longest tenure in the company. There are people who came in via the Avaya acquisition, whose service time was grandfathered to their original date of hire at Avaya, who have now been with the company longer than Extreme Networks has existed as a company. Most of the people who have the really long tenure are not in "decision making" roles, they are mostly manufacturing ops, just turning a crank.

If you want to shoot holes in product & marketing strategy then you need to look at the top of the product management, engineering and marketing organizations. You need to focus on Nabil, Eric and Norm. Nabil came via Brocade acquisition. Eric from the outside, Norm via legacy Extreme. Despite what you may believe, the product managers and engineering managers who run the various programs have little to no input with respect to product strategy. All they get to do is decide if feature X goes into release 1.0 or release 2.0.

Norm tends to not get into the trenches. It's really the Nabil and Eric show. Nabil has a hard-on for whatever the latest buzz technology is, regardless if it fits the business model - he wants to make it fit. Eric is more worried about "executive level social networking" in the valley than he is about helping Extreme.

At the end of the day it's the hardware and service that pay the bills. That isn't s-xy to Nabil & Eric.

Extreme's main strength is their service organization, which is a culture that came via Cabletron. Sales also has a culture that came from Cabletron, which is toxic, at least it was when I was there.

The products will never ever achieve feature parity with Cisco. Eventually, Extreme, like SynOptics/Cabletron/Bay Networks/Wellfleet/Nortel/Brocade/Avaya/3Com and many others will either be acquired or fold their tent. The industry is changing and the old guard, with the exception of Cisco, is being sunset. Cisco won the hearts and minds of its customer base in the late 90s, when Extreme was a startup. Extreme never had a chance to topple Cisco.

If you're still there, get out at the first opportunity. If you're considering working there, only do it if you don't have a better option, Extreme should be your safety school. Cisco has it's own issues, just because they are king doesn't mean it's nirvana there.

Could not agree more, spot on!