NewsUC&C9 May 2018 · 8 min read

Introducing the ALE Offering for Mid-Market & Enterprise Customers

In an age of digital transformation, ALE is showing mid-market and enterprise customers that they have the solutions both for today, and tomorrow.

Rob Scott

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise mid-market offering

Welcome to the age of digital transformation (DX), when organisations everywhere are on the hunt for innovation, convenience, and agility. Perhaps the two most important things leading enterprise and mid-market companies today is the shift to the cloud, and the need for stronger collaboration solutions. Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, hopes to offer the solution to both of those needs with their award-winning services available in a range of deployment options.

Alcatel-Lucent-Enterprise already serves over 830,000 customers around the world. With the help of their partner-based go-to-market strategy, they focus on developing secure and reliable solutions that keep everything (and everyone) connected.

ALE is making a name for itself as a key player in the UC marketplace. While the organisation has long had value to offer the communications space, their commitment to flexibility and user experience has really helped the brand to shine in recent years. In fact, ALE's strategy for 2018 seems to concentrate on building flexible solutions for almost any customer - perfect for the hybrid trends they're seeing today.

Today, we'll be exploring exactly what ALE has to offer the mid-market and enterprise space.

The Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Approach to Digital Engagement

To help you better understand where ALE's powerful portfolio comes from, the first thing you need to know is that the business believes "Digital Engagement" is the key to success today. In an era where mobility, data security, and disruptive technology like AI and IoT are leading the way, ALE believes that experience is everything.

For Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, achieving incredible things in the midmarket or enterprise space is all about being able to connect with patients, customers, citizens, guests, passengers, employees and anyone else at every touchpoint. That's why their three key pushes this year are around:

New business models: By offering a range of deployment models all the way from on-premises to the cloud, ALE gives their users the flexibility they need to create the digital transformation journey that's right for them
Integrated vertical solutions: Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise has recently increased their focus on specific verticals like education, healthcare, hospitality, transportation and government, to create tailored solutions for their end customers
Hybrid communications: ALE ensure that any business in the mid-market or enterprise space can harness the cloud in a way that suits them, whether that means keeping some options on-premises, or choosing a fully-hosted model

ALE: On-Premises Deployment Options for Mid-Market and Enterprise

The on-premises approach still has a lot of value to offer ALE and their customers. According to the brand, their "OpenTouch" UC solution has seen an increase of 30% year-over-year for seats, offering extended mobility and improved team collaboration through an on-premises strategy.

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise's decision to continue investing in their flagship on-premises platforms helps to set them apart from the crowd, by ensuring that they have something to offer both legacy companies and forward-thinking brands. With OpenTouch , enterprise and mid-market users can expect the serviceability, security, and reliability they need from their deployments.

The OpenTouch Suite means that users can keep their mission-critical business communications on-premises, but there are also options available for future growth too. For instance, you can connect to the Rainbow^TM cloud-based application to tap into stronger collaboration solutions. Rainbow's CPaaS (Communication Platform as a Service) solution also means that there are plenty of opportunities to expand into hybrid models for larger organisations.

Additionally, from an on-premises perspective, ALE's IP handsets are still seeing significant growth. The value of IP systems is on the rise, and ALE have a significant range for companies to choose from, including:

The Alcatel-Lucent 8058s desk phone: Featuring a business-grade design approach to IP telephony, ALE's modern business phone is an advanced, feature-rich strategy for those who still need desk-based end-points. The 8058s is affordable, compact, and easy to use - making it ideal for contact centre rollouts and more.
The Alcatel-Lucent 8078s: This premium IP endpoint offers a rich colour, touchscreen experience. Once again designed to be feature-rich and user-friendly, the phone comes with superb voice and audio quality thanks to advanced wide-band audio.
The Alcatel Lucent 8088 v2: This executive-grade phone stands out because it's open for Android app integration. Supported on the OmniPCX enterprise system, the 8088 v2 offers customised experiences depending on the end-user vertical.

ALE Solutions: Enterprise and Mid-Market in the Cloud

Thanks to ALE, organisations can also choose a hybrid or fully cloud-based deployment for their business strategy. Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise offers deployment models that range all the way from on-premises deployment, to hosting with OpenTouch Enterprise Cloud (OTEC) solutions or third-party support, and even hybrid models with the combination of Rainbow and any communication server.

For customers in search of a 100% cloud offer, ALE sells OpenTouch Enterprise Cloud technology. The "OTEC" system can even be used to deliver business communications as a service when it's supported by Rainbow. This means that ALE has an offer for anyone in search of collaboration and scalability on the cloud.

OpenTouch Enterprise Cloud offers everything the modern company needs from a UC perspective. When it comes to consumption models, you can use it on a pay-per-user, per-month model, or choose a full OpEX pricing model for licenses depending on your budgetary needs and preferences.

Because ALE allows customers to choose every part of their transition to the cloud, including the price strategy available, this makes digital transformation much easier for everyone involved.

Hybrid Communications: An Overview of ALE's "Rainbow" Solution

For customers who need a hybrid approach to the cloud, ALE offers the Rainbow service as both a UCaaS and CPaaS offering. Rainbow makes additional collaboration services available to today's enterprise and mid-market customers, regardless of what their current communication system looks like.

As a comprehensive overlay to your existing communication infrastructure, Rainbow delivers a range of feature-rich capabilities to brands, including presence, audio and video calling, file sharing, and instant messaging. The system is incredibly simple to deploy too, with the option to download and install with nothing but a single click.

Alcatel-Lucent Rainbow integrates seamlessly with OmniPCX Enterprise and OXO Connect, as well as a range of other non-ALE PBX systems, so you don't have to worry about losing the investment you've already made into your on-premises tools. Additionally, Rainbow can also act as an open "Platform as a Service" solution, with APIs that allow customers to integrate their collaboration tools into their existing business processes and applications. Rainbow is designed to:

Support digital transformation for companies of all shapes and sizes
Give a full UCaaS solution under a simple subscription model
Provide affordable and comprehensive conferencing services thanks to pre-signed agreements with service providers and major carriers around the globe

Additionally, the WebRTC gateway offered by Rainbow enables simple communications to and from any device - allowing companies to take full advantage of the hybrid communications approach.

The ALE Proposition: What's in It for the Partners?

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise are 100% partner-focused.

ALE's channel partners and resellers spread across the globe, helping the organisation to sell and deploy a broad range of diverse solutions to mid-market and enterprise end-users. ALE allows today's resellers to differentiate themselves in a competitive marketplace, by giving them a comprehensive communication offer all the way from telephony to collaboration services.

The pricing model provided by ALE is also ideal for the current marketplace, as it's OpEX-based and highly flexible, which means that channel partners can take as little risk as possible when setting up sales. ALE is even exploring something that they call a "Terminal as a Service" option fully integrated within the OTEC solution, which comes with access to the company's latest premium phones, high-level support and maintenance, and the flexibility to add or remove phones according to customer needs. Another component that sets ALE apart with their partner offering, is the fact that they provide absolute support and guidance for their resellers across the board. Resellers and channel partners can engage throughout any market segment, all the way from SMBs to the Enterprise and Alcatel-lucent Enterprise can provide specialist support in everything from tightly-integrated UC solutions, to IoT, CPaaS, and AI.

ALE Tailored Solutions for Verticals

One particularly interesting element to note is that ALE has recently re-focused its market offering by providing tailor-made solutions for specific verticals. The organisation has begun to hone its attention on marketplaces where real-time communications play a critical role in the core processes of a business. For verticals, partners can offer unique:

ALE Communication tools like UC software, broadcasting servers and more
Integration services
Third-party application solutions

While Alcatel-Lucent Enterprises notes that every sector comes with its own range of specific requirements, they believe that many verticals are searching for ways to enhance digital engagement, without compromising on security and performance. To support this quest, ALE offers a range of unique services for each vertical. For instance:

In education, ALE provides communication solutions with broadcasting and alerting services that keep campuses safe and allow teachers to collaborate in Realtime
In the government sector, ALE is experimenting with collaboration and communication services that might assist with flood, disaster, and fire protection

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise believes that CPaaS capabilities are particularly important to engaging modern verticals, as they allow them to tightly integrate Rainbow capabilities into their existing needs and processes. Thanks to the CPaaS offer, enterprises and mid-market businesses can offer high-level innovative solutions for customer service in any marketplace.

Investing in Communications with ALE

From the on-premises cupboard to the cloud, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise is serving mid-market and enterprise customers by giving them the opportunity to choose which option is right for them. ALE's services can be installed on-premises, in the cloud, or through a hybrid model with communication servers and Rainbow technology.

Today, it seems that ALE is in-gear and ready to embrace the needs of a market that's making the transition between today and tomorrow. As the company continues to evolve, there's no doubt that we'll see their innovations in the world of IoT, AI, and Collaboration continue to drive new and exciting solutions from Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise.

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