3Com (NASDAQ: COMS) worldwide channel chief Nick Tidd’s last day at the networking vendor he called home for 15 years will be this Friday.
According to Tidd, a change was made to shift the worldwide channel office down to the regions. “This means my group was phased out,” he said.
Tidd called the company decision bitter sweet. “I am both happy and sad at the same time,” he said.
Tidd said he is disappointed because of all the hard work he and his team has put into the program.
“I’m looking forward to a new chapter in my life. After 15 years at one company I’m thankful, I’ve and a learned a lot and participated in a lot, such as the creation of the 3Com/ Huawei relationship,” he said.
Tidd joined 3Com after it acquired U.S. Robotics and later became the Canadian subsidiary president.
During his time at the company, Tidd said he enjoyed the opportunity to run U.S. channels as an unknown. “I could actually sit inside the focus group and not behind the glass because no one knew who I was,” he said.
He also developed new channel strategies for 3Com’s business in the Far East, Middle East and in Latin America. In total, Tidd’s channel programs and direction touched more than 107,000 channel partners.
Tidd has already been contacted by industry executives about his availability. He currently is involved with two companies: Sandy, Utah-based Cymphonix as a board member and Bayalink Solutions Corp. of Waterloo, Ont. as a senior advisor. Bayalink has created an application for the Blackberry that enables a user to obtain wireless hotspots for free through Notes or Outlook.
But work will have to wait for a little while, as Tidd plans to “chill out” and spend some time with his family. He said he wants to know his kids again.
In his role as 3Com worldwide channel chief Tidd spent 49 out of 52 weeks of the year on the road. He has maintained this hectic schedule for the past three years.
His biggest highlight at 3Com was the day he was acquired. Tidd said that was the first time he truly saw how significant Silicon Valley was in the industry.
Along side 3Com leaving the Canadian market, Tidd’s not so great moment happened on March 20th of 2000. That was the day 3Com decided to move away from the enterprise market place. Tidd said that decision brought about massive amounts of change and communications.
“Looking back on it I would have insisted on doing it differently. It’s now a life lesson,” he said.