Heads of new departments named, with Nokia people outnumbering Alcatel-Lucent
Nokia today announced the planned leadership and organisational structure that it intends to implement after and subject to the successful closing of the public exchange offer for Alcatel-Lucent, originally announced on 15 April 2015.
The Networks business would be split into four groups, to be run by three Alcatel-Lucent people and one Nokia. Nokia Technologies will continue under its current leadership, while a further six unit leader positions to cover the company will be filled by Nokia employees.
“We are making very good progress on being ready to operate as a combined company when the proposed exchange offer closes,” said Rajeev Suri, president and CEO at Nokia. “After a thorough selection process, I am pleased to announce the company’s future organisational structure and exceptional leaders who will help chart the next steps in Nokia’s transformation.”
After the closing of the exchange offer, the Networks business would be conducted through four business groups: Mobile Networks, Fixed Networks, Applications & Analytics and IP/Optical Networks. These business groups would provide an end to end portfolio of products, software and services to enable the combined company to deliver the next generation of leading networks solutions and services to customers.
Alongside these, Nokia Technologies would continue to operate as a separate business group. Each business group would have strategic, operational and financial responsibility for its portfolio and would be fully accountable for meeting its targets.
The four Networks business groups would have a common Integration and Transformation Office to drive synergies and to lead integration activities. The business group leaders would report directly to Nokia’s Suri.
Mobile Networks would include Nokia’s and Alcatel-Lucent’s comprehensive Radio portfolios and most of their converged Core network portfolios including IMS/VoLTE and Subscriber Data Management, as well as the associated mobile networks-related Global Services business. This unit would also include Alcatel-Lucent’s Microwave business and all of the combined company’s end-to-end Managed Services business. Through the combination of these assets, Mobile Networks would provide leading end to end mobile networks solutions for existing and new platforms, as well as a full suite of professional services and product-attached services. The designated president of Mobile Networks would be Samih Elhage, who currently serves as executive VP and chief financial and operating officer, Nokia Networks.
Fixed Networks would comprise the current Alcatel-Lucent Fixed Networks business. Its innovation and market position would be further supported through strong collaboration with the other business groups. This business group would provide copper and fibre access products and services to offer customers ultra broadband end to end solutions to transform their networks, deploying fibre to the most economical point. The designated president of Fixed Networks would be Federico Guillén, who currently serves as president of Fixed Networks, Alcatel-Lucent.
Applications & Analytics would combine the Software and Data Analytics-related operations of both companies. This comprehensive applications portfolio would include Customer Experience Management, OSS as distinct from network management such as service fulfilment and assurance, Policy and Charging, services, Cloud Stacks, management and orchestration, communication and collaboration, Security Solutions, network intelligence and analytics, device management and Internet of Things connectivity management platforms. CloudBand would also be housed in this business group, which would drive innovation to meet the needs of a convergent, Cloud-centric future. The designated president of Applications & Analytics would be Bhaskar Gorti, who currently serves as -resident of IP Platforms, Alcatel-Lucent.
IP/Optical Networks would combine the current Alcatel-Lucent IP Routing, Optical Transport and IP video businesses, as well as the software defined networking (SDN) start up, Nuage, plus Nokia’s IP partner and Packet Core portfolio. IP/Optical Networks would continue to drive Alcatel-Lucent’s technology leadership, building large scale IP/Optical infrastructures for both service providers and, increasingly, web-scale and tech-centric enterprise customers. The designated president of IP/Optical Networks would be Basil Alwan, who currently serves as president of IP Routing and Transport, Alcatel-Lucent.
Nokia Technologies would remain as a separate entity with a clear focus on licensing and the incubation of new technologies. Nokia Technologies would continue to have its own innovation, product development and go-to-market operations. Ramzi Haidamus would continue in his current role as president of Nokia Technologies.
“Our goal is to position each business group for clear leadership in its particular market and to create a combined portfolio that provides the scope and scale our customers expect, underpinned by a strong focus on innovation, quality and superb execution,” explained Suri. “We aim for all our business groups to be innovation leaders, drawing on the combined company’s unparalleled R&D capabilities to deliver leading products and services for our customers, and ultimately ensure the company’s long-term value creation.”
The combined company is expected to have a common sales organisation across the business groups, except for Nokia Technologies.
In addition, effective after the closing of the exchange offer, there would be six additional unit leaders within the combined company, who would report directly to the president and CEO: Timo Ihamuotila, currently executive VP and group CFO, Nokia, would serve as CFO; Ashish Chowdhary, currently chief business officer, Nokia Networks, would serve as chief customer operations officer; Marc Rouanne, currently executive VP, mobile broadband, Nokia Networks, would serve as chief innovation and operating officer; Hans-Jürgen Bill, currently executive VP, human resources, Nokia, would serve as chief human resources officer; Kathrin Buvac, currently VP, corporate strategy, Nokia Networks, would serve as chief strategy officer; Barry French, currently CMO and executive VP, marketing and corporate affairs, Nokia, would serve as CMO; additionally, Maria Varsellona, currently executive VP and chief legal officer, Nokia, would serve as chief legal officer.
Alcatel-Lucent is to continue to operate its undersea cables business, Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks (ASN), as a wholly-owned subsidiary. Nokia expects to operate ASN as a separate entity.
As previously announced, Nokia has agreed to sell HERE, its mapping and location services business, to a consortium of leading German automotive companies. HERE will continue to operate as a business of Nokia until the sale is completed, but is not included in the planned future organisational structure of Nokia. The sale of HERE is expected to close in the first quarter of 2016, and Nokia plans to report HERE as a discontinued operation from the third quarter of 2015 onwards.
