Mitel and Sun add unified communications to Sun's thin-client platform

Late last month, Sun Chairman Scott
McNealy, and Mitel Chairman Terry
Matthews delivered a Webcast on their
thoughts on convergence in a thin-client
environment. The discussion follows two
March 2008 announcements by the
companies unveiling the availability of the
Sun Ray Unified IP Client from Mitel and
availability of the Mitel Communications
Suite on the Sun Fire X4150. McNealy
and Matthews were both very bullish on their joint progress, and we had a
chance to follow up with Matthews after the Webcast.

Both McNealy and Matthews extolled the virtues of convergence in a thin
client environment, pointing out that enterprises can enjoy substantial
savings on the cost of energy and maintenance associated with traditional
desktop computer environments. The Sun Ray Thin Client and Mitel IP
phone combined use only 9 watts of electricity compared to the 60 to 80
watt power typically needed to power a laptop or PC. Matthews noted that
one Mitel customer was saving more than $100,000 a year in energy costs
for every 1,000 employees because of the reduced power requirements
, while McNealy estimated Sun’s annual savings were more than $25
million a year in energy and systems costs.

By using a “hot desk” rather than a traditional computer, McNealy also
said that at Sun, replacing a hot desk terminal was assigned to a facilities
technician rather than an IT staff member (because of the straightforward
installation) so maintenance costs are also reduced. And, by using a
combination of hot desks and allowing Sun employees to telework where
possible, McNealy added that his company is saving an estimated $70
million in reduced facilities costs since many employees can work from
home.

While a thin client and the Sun Ray are not new concepts, what does make
this convergence solution attractive is that Mitel has taken the ultra thin
client Sun Ray technology and created a slim module that snaps securely
onto Mitel IP phones to provide a unified communications desktop. This
allows users to securely “hot desk” into both the Mitel IP phones and the
Sun Ray thin client terminals using a personal, authenticated Java Card.
Mitel’s Communications Director call control software resides on Sun
servers to consolidate applications including the features supported by the
Mitel 3300 ICP.