Looking for a partner/investor for an Alcatel-Lucent services project

[Jimm]

Hi everyone,
Thought I’d drop a line here as I know a fair few of you work day-to-day with Alcatel-Lucent kit, whether it’s voice, data, or service provider gear, and this might pique some interest. Over the past few months I’ve been putting together a project focused on managed services for Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise infrastructure, aimed at SMEs that don’t have the in-house skills to run their network, voice systems, or security. The idea is to offer simple, packaged services that are easy to deploy and maintain, all built on kit most of us are familiar with – OmniPCX, OmniVista, OmniSwitch, and the like. The project is coming along nicely on the technical side, with a few working demos and some encouraging early feedback from potential clients. To really get things moving, I’m looking for a partner or investor who sees the potential in this space. The aim isn’t just to set up another run-of-the-mill service company, but to create something that genuinely makes life easier for small businesses, while highlighting the Alcatel-Lucent ecosystem, with an MSP-style approach.
Would be great to hear from anyone who’s tried something similar or has thoughts on this. Even a quick chat could be useful – the kind of insight that comes from people who’ve been in the trenches is always invaluable.