3Com exec departs for Web portal

Departing 3Com executive Ron Sege will soon turn his attention to the consumption of bandwidth on behalf of his new employer, Internet portal player Lycos, rather than the creation of it.

Sege, a nearly 10-year veteran of the data networking firm and current chief of the company's enterprise business, will shortly leave 3Com to become executive vice president at Lycos.

The move comes after 3Com completed a comprehensive networking product overhaul to better position itself as a player within large corporate and service provider layouts. Sege leaves 3Com as the market continues to evolve and consolidate--a trend that most believe will lead to only a few large networking players left standing.

"These decisions are always difficult no matter what the timing," Sege said in an interview. "I think 3Com is poised for growth in the core [of networks] and we're poised for growth at the edge, where we've been a leader for some time."

Sege will join Lycos during a period when the stakes have been raised in the portal wars. Lycos is said to be looking for a deep-pocketed partner to keep up with rivals.

Sege said he was brought in at Lycos, in part, to help integrate the numerous acquisitions the company has made recently. He will run operations, marketing, and strategy, he said, with an eye at getting a greater share of electronic commerce dollars. "There's just a huge amount of upside," Sege said.

Veteran 3Com executive Edgar Masri will take Sege's position as senior vice president and general manager of 3Com's enterprise business unit. Masri moves over from his post as senior vice president of 3Com's small and medium enterprise business unit.