Exclusive: Paul Pan says ALE’s Rainbow Hub redefines UCC

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise (ALE) is positioning its new Rainbow Hub platform as an integration-driven alternative to standardised unified communications and collaboration (UCC) tools, aiming to move partners into higher-value workflow, automation and vertical solution work.

"Rainbow Hub addresses something bigger: the digital enterprise," said Paul Pan, Channel Manager ANZ, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise.

"Many tools in the market look and feel similar. They focus on improving calls, meetings, messaging and the office experience. Rainbow Hub takes a different path."

"Instead of treating UCC as an isolated productivity app, ALE built Rainbow Hub as an open, integration-led communication platform. It's designed not just to connect people, but to connect people with processes, systems, sensors and events across the organisation," added Pan.

He said partners who understand operational workflows gain the clearest opportunity.

"Partners who share this vision and understand their customers' business processes will be particularly excited about Rainbow Hub's potential. And because Rainbow Hub doesn't mandate a fixed SIP provider, partners also have full freedom to choose the voice services that make the most sense for their customers," added Pan.

Partner value

"Many UCC tools are mature and easy to adopt, which is great for end users. But the challenge for partners is that these solutions are often highly standardised SaaS products, leaving little room to build additional value or differentiation," said Pan. "Rainbow Hub breaks that pattern."

"It allows partners to differentiate by moving beyond selling communication tools - they can build integrated business workflows that no other UCC platform in the market offers," added Pan.

"We already see this in real deployments: a partner in Australia delivering Aged Care as a Service, partners across APAC exploring hospitality applications and global collaborations building Retail as a Service," added Pan.

"This is ultimately about Industry as a Service - turning deep vertical knowledge into tailored workflows, integrations and new tools that improve business outcomes," added Pan.

"Instead of competing on licence discount, they compete on uptime, security, workflow integration and business value. It's a healthier, more profitable model for partners," added Pan.

Hybrid work

"Hybrid work isn't just about connecting people; it's about connecting processes. Rainbow Hub is designed with that in mind. It allows users to move seamlessly between devices, locations and networks - while IT teams retain full visibility and control," said Pan.

"For partners, this opens strong opportunities in sectors where remote and onsite operations must function as one: healthcare, logistics, education, government and other process-driven environments," added Pan.

"It's a strong story for partners who want to move from product reselling to solution building," added Pan.

Channel model

"As a 100% channel-driven business, ALE believes local success comes from local capability. Our goal is to make Rainbow Hub a platform partners can build on - not just resell," said Pan.

"We designed the go-to-market to help partners succeed quickly and sustainably," added Pan.

"Partners are supported by distributors and local ALE teams who provide logistics, training, certification, pre-sales assistance, solution design and post-sales support. This ensures partners always have local expertise behind them," added Pan.

"Our enablement program focuses on getting partners confident fast. It includes self-paced learning, guided onboarding, technical certifications, demo environments, POC support and co-selling for early opportunities," added Pan.

"The Rainbow Carrier Connect program gives partners and customers real commercial flexibility. Certified carriers can integrate with Rainbow Hub through secure cloud-to-cloud connections," added Pan.

Vertical traction

"Early traction will come from sectors where UCC is essential but still relatively basic - organisations often running legacy PBXs or fragmented tools where the focus has simply been 'make the phones work'," said Pan.

"But the real opportunity lies in the hidden layer: organisations in aged care, education, hospitality, retail, logistics and local government increasingly want their communication tools to connect with daily operations," added Pan.

"Rainbow Hub doesn't stop at cloud telephony. It enables the connection of communication with nurse call workflows, PMS systems in hotels, IoT-driven safety notifications in warehouses, CCTV events in retail and emergency alerts across campuses and councils," added Pan.

"This creates two conversations with customers: 'let's modernise your telephony,' and then, 'now let's connect it to how your organisation actually runs'," added Pan.

Recurring revenue

"Rainbow Hub's cloud architecture drives recurring revenue by design. It's delivered as a per-user monthly subscription with multiple tiers, giving partners a predictable and scalable revenue base that grows with customer adoption," said Pan.

"Margins are strong because ALE does not compete with the channel. We provide the platform through our distributors; partners own the customer relationship, billing, support and service value," added Pan.

"The platform's openness is where the largest revenue opportunity sits. Partners can build consultancy, software development, managed services, integrations and custom workflows on top of Rainbow Hub, owning the IP and 100% of the associated revenue," added Pan.

Security focus

"Security and sovereignty are foundational to Rainbow Hub. The platform is ISO 27001 certified and fully aligned with GDPR. Its 'secure by design' architecture incorporates end-to-end encryption, continuous monitoring and enterprise-grade protection across all communication channels," said Pan.

"For ANZ customers, data sovereignty is especially important. ALE operates through secure global data centres with regional hosting and local retention options that support local regulatory expectations," added Pan.

"Built-in auditability, traceability and role-based access controls give organisations full oversight and accountability," added Pan.

Early feedback

"The early partner feedback has been encouraging. Many have found Rainbow Hub easy to sell because it delivers strong functionality at a competitive price within a simple subscription model," said Pan.

"Most importantly, partners are excited about the new conversations Rainbow Hub enables. They're no longer limited to selling calls and meetings; they're engaging customers on workflows, processes, automation and integration," added Pan.