Alcatel-Lucent and HP join forces

Big name vendors agree 10 year global alliance to integrate product sets for HP channel

IT must be love: The two vendors are set to launch a joint to go-to-market scheme

Vendors Alcatel-Lucent and HP have agreed a decade-long global strategic alliance that will see products and routes to market integrated.

As part of the agreement, HP will also revamp a large part of the communications vendor's IT infrastructure and will be given responsibility for managing it. Alcatel-Lucent claimed this arrangement would allow it to make major cost savings over the 10 year period.

The two companies are planning to launch a joint go-to-market programme with Alcatel-Lucent's telephony and networking kit integrated with HP's IT wares. The joint products and services will be sold through the HP channel.

The programme will have dedicated resources from both firms to ramp up sales and business development and will be aimed at medium to large enterprises and the public sector. The vendors claimed the deal spoke to the convergence of telecoms and IT and that it would allow them to provide a comprehensive technology offering.

Mark Hurd, chief executive of HP, said: “We expect customers will be able to create new business opportunities and greater efficiencies from this alliance. By combining our deep expertise in IT and communications, HP and Alcatel-Lucent will help customers transform their technology needs into a competitive edge.”

Alcatel-Lucent chief executive Ben Verwaayen added: "Today’s global alliance represents a major transformational deal that will deliver great benefits to our customers. IT and telecoms are coming together in an unprecedented way and I am delighted to see how we can speed up innovation in our industry.

"I am also confident that HP will deliver Alcatel-Lucent best-in-class solutions in terms of performance and cost for our IT needs.”