This week marks the end to a long and accomplished career for one of Nortel's most well-known industry pundits, as Tony Rybczynski is retiring after 37 years.

Tony started his career in this industry at a time when the world's most advanced (and earliest) computer network was connecting minicomputers via 4.8Kbps lines. As one of Nortel's most active spokespeople, Tony talks a lot about technology, Hyerconnectivity, and the future of networking. And who else better to do this than Tony, since he's been an integral part of this industry since its earliest moments.

Tony recently publicly announced his retirement via this post on his blog. In fact, one of the great accomplishments you could highlight in Tony's career is his ability to keep on the leading edge in an industry where the leading edge is always changing.

Tony has been one of Nortel's most vocal and respected Enterprise evangelists for many years, but recently he has morphed into a citizen of the social media world. Tony has his own blog on TMCnet -- The Hyperconnected Enterprise -- which he plans to continue posting on even in retirement. Tony also regularly interacts with other bloggers now, and even has a YouTube video on Hyperconnectivity.

We at Nortel will miss Tony, but luckily it won't be hard to keep connected. In a recent conversation, Tony told me that he plans to still keep blogging (possibly the new web 2.0 route for retirement?).

You can read Tony's retirement post here.

Good luck Tony, and best wishes.