Sign sign nowhere VeriSign

I don't know which day VeriSign will come to rue the most: the day it hired Stratton Sclavos or the day it decided to divest most of what they have acquired over the last five years, including its telecom-related assets. Tough call.

Financial analysts see the move yesterday to divest itself of non-core assets as the saving grace that it is -- or better be -- for VeriSign. But for the long run, the timing couldn't be worse because given more time and perhaps some different leadership, VeriSign could have brought its big-picture strategy together and been the best positioned company in the industry to bridge the gap between the Internet and telecom -- and in the process make a bundle.

But in the end, VeriSign is a shining example of what happens when great vision is not matched with great execution (and perhaps tinged with a fair share of scandal).

When it comes to acquisitions, who did the company think it was, Oracle? VeriSign squandered many good acquisitions, much good talent and several next-generation synergies. Given its acquisitions of M-cube, Illuminet and others in the signaling and OSS/BSS realms as well as LightSurf and Jamba!, who better to solve the looming issues between settlement and transaction services between carriers and their new content partners?

VeriSign is getting out just as the demand for its combined solutions -- or the demands for the solutions it would have had, had it bothered to integrate them -- has arrived. VeriSign will still be an important player in the Internet security and domain name arena if it survives its financial problems, but it looks like an opportunity will be lost in telecom. Luckily for telecom, VeriSign's troubles come at a time when the rest of the telecom industry has rebounded, and there is plenty of cash available to pick up VeriSign's "stranded assets" and make something of them.

E-mail me at tmcelligott@telephonyonline.com.