Alcatel-Lucent has sealed a ten year global alliance with HP to accelerate the convergence of IT and telecommunications.
The deal, which is pending finalization, will see the companies jointly market solutions that enable end-to-end transformation for service providers and enterprises. When implemented, the vendors claim that the program could generate multi-billion euros in net revenues for HP and Alcatel-Lucent over the 10-year period.
The combined global marketing blitz aims to create new platforms across converged infrastructure that will enable the delivery of new, revenue-generating services for providers.
Alcatel-Lucent’s IP telephony, unified communications, mobility, security and contact centers will be integrated with HP IT solutions. Under the arrangement HP will also transform and manage a large part of Alcatel-Lucent’s IT infrastructure. Alcatel-Lucent chief executive officer Ben Verwaayen, said “I am also confident that HP will deliver Alcatel-Lucent best-in-class solutions in terms of performance and cost for our IT needs.”
Under the outsourcing arrangement Alcatel-Lucent plans to migrate more quickly to advanced IT infrastructure and services that deliver higher performance and greater efficiency. Throughout the 10-year agreement, Alcatel-Lucent said it was targeting significant aggregate savings along with material cash-flow improvements.
“We expect customers will be able to create new business opportunities and greater efficiencies from this alliance,” said Mark Hurd, HP chairman and chief executive officer.
The vendors have had a history of collaboration, back in 2003, Alcatel (pre merger) forged an alliance with HP targeting the SME sector. Branded Ready Office it packaged hardware, services and broadband Internet access in a one stop shop. The venture did not gain any real traction in any markets other than France where it was pushed through France Telecom.
