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China Huaxin ownership of ALUE, a good thing!

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise is set to emerge as a global enterprise communication powerhouse.

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Nandita Singh
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Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise is set to emerge as a global enterprise communication powerhouse
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By Nandita Singh

It is a strategic masterstroke. An old player shifted gears with new goals and a new identity came into existence this October, when Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, a subsidiary of Alcatel-Lucent (ALU), was spinned-off as an independent global enterprise with a sharp focus on emerging global markets, including India.

The spin-off was the result of divestment decision taken by telecom major ALU for a cash consideration of EUR 202 million, and a minority stake of 15%. The new company Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise (ALUE) has been incorporated in France. Led by its president, Michel Emelianoff, it will work with ALU on a privileged relationship basis. The spin-off retains the ALU innovation DNA and its culture and timetested systems and processes. Customer-centricity is said to be guiding factor in the way the new company is structured.

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China Huaxin Post & Telecommunication Economy Development Center, an industrial investment company with interests in the information and communications technologies sector, has the ownership of the controlling 85% stake.

With an investor like Huaxin, ALUE has bagged a number of advantages. Primary among these is the “preferred” access advantage to the large, very promising but tough China market, and an ability to execute its ambitions on a global scale. The company has put in place a separate structure for China market and has clubbed all other Asia markets in its Asia Pacific organization headquartered in Singapore.

The move will give the company, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise (ALUE), an edge in the enterprise communications sector, enabling it to explore new business opportunities unfettered in the emerging high-growth regions with its next-generation enterprise communication technology and solutions. The company intends to keep its global workforce of 2,700 employees and make headway to a leadership position with aggressive strategies customized for the emerging markets.

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This global announcement was shared with the Asia Pacific media, by Matthieu Destot of Alcatel- Lucent

Enterprise at the press conference in Singapore on October 1, 2014.

Destot has recently taken charge as the VP of sales for Asia Pacific at the ALUE region headquarters in Singapore. In his prior engagements at ALU, Destot has held various positions giving him broad exposure to Network, Communications and Cloud segments across global markets in small and medium businesses as well as large global accounts. His leadership team and the strategies are in place for markets in the region. “The idea is to execute a shift from pure technology-centric to outcome-based delivery model, capable of delivering measurable RoI from both economical and human perspective for its partners and customers,” says Destot elaborating that the company has identified focus verticals of hospitality & travel, healthcare, education and BFSI for various markets and has already under its belt a significant headway in the hospitality segment.

The company is set to give competition a run for its money. ALUE India head Sanjay Sapru who holds charge of South Asia markets including India is boosting the India team adding pre-sales support competency in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore to enable ALUE partners to do more, and do so efficiently. It is also stepping up direct connect with tier 2 partners making aggressive, customized inroads in 0-250 users organizations. “We are expanding our traditional focus of large businesses in India to include small and medium businesses. The move will assure us a good run rate,” explains Sapru.

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ALUE in India is also adding a Partner Account Management (PAM) leader to its sales organization.

In the next three years, this strategic move, riding on ALUE unified communications solutions and switching portfolio, is expected to change the revenue mix of the company with the small and medium businesses accounting for 30 percent of the overall revenues from the country.

Hospitality, government & defense, metro transportation, IT/ ITES remain the focus verticals for ALUE.

The company is aiming at a 15-20% year-on-year growth and is set to double it current revenue in five

years.

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