Irony 101?

Does it strike anyone as ironic or simply puzzling that Deloitte has selected Nortel to provide managed service for its telepresence, video conferencing and multimedia services in as many as 130 locations around the world?

For people who followed Nortel’s financial troubles/accounting scandal, Deloitte was right in the middle of the action as Nortel’s long-time auditor. As Nortel toiled away on a series of restatements, Deloitte made big-time fees – $72.7-million in 2003 and $57-million in 2004 for audit, tax and related services.

In December 2006, Nortel parted ways with Deloitte, and Nortel selected KPMG as its new auditor. Nortel said the decision was not a result of “any disagreement or dissatisfaction” with Deloitte.

Now, it may be that Nortel has the best managed services portfolio at the best prices to meet Deloitte’s specific needs but if Deloitte was taking optics into account, perhaps going with a supplier other than Nortel may have been a more pragmatic choice.

For more, check out Network World’s Jim Duffy.

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