Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise has hired channel veteran Karl Sice as sales leader for Australia and New Zealand, and he thinks the company can challenge the voice and data networking industry’s behemoths.
Sice told CRN he thinks Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise (ALE) has an opportunity to build on strengths in vertical industries, especially education, hospitality, healthcare and government. He hopes to become part of digital transformation discussions, telling CRN that he feels there are opportunities to assist with efforts such as New South Wales’ Service NSW online self-service portal.
Carriers are on his mind too.
“One of the challenges we have is that the major carriers tend to be aligned with the likes of Microsoft and Cisco,” he said. But he feels ALE can match either for technology, and can win as it gains more exposure.
“We have started banging on those doors [inside carriers], but I see so much more opportunity,” Sice said.
The new sales leader added that he’s already met with some big ALE partners and they “want us to take a position of leadership in terms of where the opportunities are.”
“They are keen to see us grow and develop and let us take the lead.”
Doing so, he said, will mean helping them navigate the change to cloud business models especially as PABX owners make the move to hosted offerings. Sice also identified coping with price erosion for SMB products as a key issue.
On a personal note, Sice said he joined ALE from ASI for a combination of personal reasons (a desire to return to vendor-land) and because he feels his values align with those of his new employer.
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