Posts Tagged ‘alcatel-lucent’

Alcatel-Lucent acquires ProgrammableWeb

I’ll give credit to Alcatel-Lucent for thinking outside the box in today’s acquisition of ProgrammableWeb, a site that catalogs Web APIs. ALU has been on an aggressive path of transformation into a Web API-centric telecom company as I’d written here before. Clearly it believes that the future of telecom is the Web, and its executive management team is doing something about it. The Web-focused strategy may just give ALU an advantage over its heavyweight competitors.

Official press release:

Paris June 29, 2010 – Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today announced that it has acquired ProgrammableWeb, the technology industry’s universal source for Web APIs (application programming interfaces) used by application developers to build web, mobile, and other connected applications that serve consumers and the workplace.  Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Web APIs enable developers to create new applications leveraging various kinds of content and functionality.  Alcatel-Lucent’s acquisition of ProgrammableWeb will help bring together an ecosystem of service providers, enterprises, and developers to drive the creation of unique applications today and in the new world of broadband mobile through LTE.

ProgrammableWeb will continue to operate as a separate entity, maintaining its repository of over 2,000 Web APIs which are regularly accessed by a community of hundreds of thousands of developers, and continuing its role as the industry’s most comprehensive content source for Web services development.  Alcatel-Lucent will provide support and resources to promote the continued and robust growth of the API and developer ecosystem, and facilitate service providers’ participation within that ecosystem.

For Alcatel-Lucent this acquisition provides an important new channel to partner with the Web developer community – a dialog it has started with its Open API Service and Developer Platform.  It also gives Alcatel-Lucent access to general API usage patterns, allowing it to build highly relevant API bundles for its Open API Service. ProgrammableWeb’s API monitoring services, API trial services, and automated API updates will be integrated into Alcatel-Lucent’s Developer Platform. In addition, Alcatel-Lucent will be able to share its developer resources, such as its dashboard that helps developers track application monetization, with ProgrammableWeb’s developer community.

“If you look at any organization that launches an API, you quickly realize that the one thing the most successful APIs have in common is a vibrant developer ecosystem,” said Laura Merling, vice president of Alcatel-Lucent’s global developer strategy.  “Our goal is to protect the uniqueness and independence of ProgrammableWeb as an API repository and developer resource, while adding beneficial technologies and service provider relationships to the mix for everyone’s benefit.”

This move advances Alcatel-Lucent’s Application Enablement strategy, which is focused on combining the trusted and secure network capabilities of service providers with the speed and creativity of the Web to provide a richer end-user experience.

“ProgrammableWeb has always sought to put developers first, by giving them the most timely and comprehensive picture of everything related to APIs,” said John Musser, ProgrammableWeb founder who is moving to Alcatel-Lucent, but will continue to oversee the repository’s operation.  “That mission will be strengthened and expanded by joining forces with Alcatel-Lucent.  As APIs become more central to software strategies in all domains, we’ll make ProgrammableWeb an even better one-stop independent source.”

About ProgrammableWeb

ProgrammableWeb is the leading online destination dedicated to mashups, APIs and the Web as a development platform. Founded in 2005, ProgrammableWeb offers the Internet’s largest directory of Web 2.0 APIs and mashups. With over 2,000 open APIs and thousands of real-world mashups, users can search, contribute, and connect as part of ProgrammableWeb’s active mashup developer community. The site also offers daily industry news, analysis, case studies, tools and technical resources. Regularly featured in major publications worldwide, including Forbes, Newsweek and CIO, ProgrammableWeb is a recognized industry authority. For more information, visit www.programmableweb.com.

About Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) is the trusted transformation partner of service providers, enterprises, strategic industries such as defense, energy, healthcare, transportation, and governments worldwide, providing solutions to deliver voice, data and video communication services to end-users. A leader in fixed, mobile and converged broadband networking, IP and optics technologies, applications and services, Alcatel-Lucent leverages the unrivalled technical and scientific expertise of Bell Labs, one of the largest innovation powerhouses in the communications industry. With operations in more than 130 countries and the most experienced global services organization in the industry, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with a global reach. Alcatel-Lucent achieved revenues of Euro 15.2 billion in 2009 and is incorporated in France, with executive offices located in Paris. For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on the Internet:http://www.alcatel-lucent.com, read the latest posts on the Alcatel-Lucent blog http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/blog and follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Alcatel_Lucent.

Contact the Alcatel-Lucent Press Office: press@alcatel-lucent.com

How not to pick a group name: ALU CHUG

CHUG — Connected Hospital User Group, a conference by Alcatel-Lucent in Washington, D.C. Leaders and executives from the health care and hospital sector converge to at CHUG.

Reminds me of the story about the South Lake Union Trolley — ahem, SLUT — in Seattle.

Thanks for brightening my Monday, ALU.

Being green, in the red

Corporations today are definitely paying attention to environmental issues and being eco-friendly, or “green.” Even though man-made global warming has been debunked and its cause self-imploded since the revelation of scandalous scientists and climatologists being creative with their research data, I believe that it doesn’t mean our Earth is fine and dandy. Perhaps global warming was a fraud, but issues such as deforestation, air pollution, ocean pollution, etc. cannot be ignored. Companies with green initiatives should be applauded for their efforts, but sometimes I wonder if they are trying too hard and at the expense of shareholders.

First, if you are a publicly-traded company and anybody can own your company shares, then the company executives’ foremost concern should be to profit the shareholders within the boundaries of law and regulations. Recently I wrote about Alcatel-Lucent’s depressing 1Q2010 results — down almost 10% YoY and a stock price that’s going nowhere. The company exists in a highly competitive market with competitors that are multiples of its size. It’s a tough situation, especially in this weakened economy. Then I come across this post from ALU’s official blog about the company’s leadership and participation at the Clean Technology Showcase in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the Federal Communications Commission:

On May 18, we were among several industry leaders, technology and energy policymakers, state governments and foreign embassies that participated in the FCC’s Clean Technology Showcase in Washington, D.C., which highlighted developments in communications technology and energy efficiency.  FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski hosted the event, which included U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Federal Energy Regulatory Chairman Jon Wellinghoff as special guests [you can find out more on http://blog.broadband.gov]. Other demonstrators included Ericsson, GE, Panasonic, Google and Samsung.

During the event, we highlighted our leadership role in GreenTouch™, the research consortium initiated by Bell Labs, and displayed recent advances in modular cooling, in sustainable power for mobile base stations, and the recent European Commission recognition with its Sustainable Energy Europe Award for Alcatel-Lucent’s Alternative Energy Program [read more in this post].

Was it more about being green or being in Washington? In 2009 the company spent nearly $2 million in lobbying and almost half a million dollars have already been spent in 2010. How much money was also spent just to be green? How would the balance sheets and income statements look if all the “green cash” was re-allocated to R&D, product development, sales and marketing, etc.?

Having a green conscious is great, but what if it’s only making the shareholders see red?

And no, I am not an investor in Alcatel-Lucent.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Controversy rages over Green Touch initiative (channelweb.co.uk)

Lots of red during Alcatel-Lucent 1Q2010

Not a good time to be an ALU shareholder as the company reported a loss for the first quarter of 2010. The stock price struggles to break $3/share. Revenues declined for most of its business segments:

Quarterly revenues decreased 9.8% year over year and decreased 18.1% sequentially to €3.247 billion. By operating segments, Networks saw a double-digit decline in revenue, partly attributable to a shortage of components in supply chain. This has been particularly true in wireless access and terrestrial optics. Applications revenue declined 6.3% year over year with enterprise solutions & Genesys relatively stable. Services segment was more resilient with a 3.1% year-over-year decrease supported by managed services and multivendor maintenance.

Even Genesys isn’t faring that well? “Relatively stable” as in “revenues will continue to decline as the same rate”? And a “3.1% year-over-year decrease” is considered resiliency? There doesn’t even seem to be a hint of sunshine in this quarterly report. What about getting customers to upgrade to the fancy new version, Genesys 8? What happened to the momentum of G-Force Chicago and G-Force Amsterdam? And the high profile partnerships with Lithium social media and InQuira knowledge management solutions?

I have a feeling that this year we’re going to find out whether the Genesys acquisition and the subsequent restructuring and reorganization were effective.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Alcatel-Lucent shares plunge after Q1 net loss (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

ALU/Genesys PR star Rob Hilsen joins RightNow Technologies

Update: Hilsen’s name has now been removed from the Genesys PR Contacts page.

Employees from different companies leave and join other companies all the time, so you’re asking why is Rob Hilsen‘s defection to RNT newsworthy, especially on a blog about contact centers and telecom…

First of all, Hilsen was with Genesys/Alcatel-Lucent for 4 1/2 years (according to his LinkedIn profile), until recently as PR Manager. I may be a n00b in the whole PR/AR realm, but I know a star when I see one by digging into his online profiles and tweets. Analysts have nothing but praise for Hilsen (and in turn, for the corporation he represented), and that comes from him doing his job well — engaging, intelligent, and accessible. I have no doubt that he was instrumental in shaping the positive public image the contact center industry has about Genesys and even Alcatel-Lucent.

Secondly, we all know that ALU had undergone some significant re-org fairly recently, and I cannot help but wonder if this had anything to do with Hilsen’s departure. His title is now Director of Analyst Relations, a promotion by joining the red hot Bozeman, Montana-based CRM company. RightNow Technologies has been making news and acquisitions recently, so it’s definitely expanding its desktop and cloud empire. But it is still fighting a tough battle against more well-known competitors like Salesforce.com, so beefing up its PR definitely makes sense in a multi-pronged attack to go along with aggressive sales and new products.

The third point to make is the delicate relationship between coopetitors Genesys and RNT, specifically on the social CRM offerings which I’d briefly covered before. RightNow dominates the web social CRM space, but Genesys definitely has an interest in desktops too as evident in its partnerships with InQuira and Lithium, direct competitors to RNT. Things will get interesting for Hilsen at his new job for sure…

By the way, Genesys’ website still lists his contact information so let’s see how long it’ll take for them to realize that Hilsen is no longer with them. Everybody on Twitter (and which corporate PR/marketing person isn’t on Twitter?) already knows about it:

Oh wait, not just on the Twitterverse, but the news spread in the blogosphere too!

Rob Hilsen (Twitter) has joined the RightNow Technologies analyst relations team as Director. Rob was the special guest on the March AR Coffee Talk discussion the AR leading-edge best practice of “Customer Innovation Awards” (click here for replay).Please join us in congratulating Rob and wishing him great success in his new position.

Congratulations and looking forward to seeing more of Hilsen’s tweets!