Foundry Networks (News - Alert), Inc. providing total solutions for end-to-end switching and routing announced that it will be delivering Unified Communications (News - Alert) (UC) solutions for enterprise customers by integrating technology developed by Microsoft, Mitel and Sun Microsystems.

 

The complete UC solution will include Foundry’s open infrastructure, Mitel’s vertical-based UC solution and Sun Microsystem’s virtual display clients along with Microsoft’s (News - Alert) Office Communication Server application delivery solution.

 

Foundry proposes to demonstrate the complete UC solution at Interop (News - Alert) underway in Las Vegas. The demo will enable the understanding of how a UC solution can work seamlessly for the delivery of business-critical performance and value, according to Foundry.

 

A Foundry BigIron RX backbone Layer 2/3 switch, ServerIron application delivery switch, and compact FastIron Power over Ethernet (PoE) Layer 2/3 switch will connect to Sun Microsystems’ (News - Alert) Sun Ray virtual display client powered by the Mitel Communications Suite, Microsoft’s Office Communications Server 2007 and Network Access Protection (NAP) technology during the demo.

 

IP infrastructure and enterprise communications simplify communications when brought into a single network with common interfaces, shared tools and single points of contact for customers, employees and others.

 

However several problems are associated with large-scale UC deployments which prevent enterprises from realizing benefits from them although they enhance productivity greatly. They include application security, performance and manageability with increase in mobility in the delivery of consistent desktop and voice experience. All of these have to be provided cost effectively wherever users need to access the network, which is quite challenging even for large enterprises.

 

Amy Mollat-Medeiros, director of Enterprise Alliances at Foundry Networks, said that this collaboration between industry leaders brings new opportunities to truly transform enterprise infrastructure. As part of an integrated and best-of-breed solution, enterprise customers gain lower total cost of ownership and increased return on investment with their mission-critical applications.

 

The UC solution that will be demonstrated at this year’s Interop Las Vegas event is a result of increasing collaboration across the IT ecosystem and in accordance with Microsoft’s commitment to meeting customers’ changing operating and business needs in mixed source environments, pointed out Bruce Burns, senior director of Strategic Relations at Microsoft.

 

Mitel’s VP for Business Development and Strategic Offerings and Sun’s senior director said the elements brought together by this group of vendors provide powerful, flexible and robust joint solutions that are capable of meeting the needs of any customer environment. It underscores that ‘the network is the computer,’ and truly demonstrates what’s possible in client convergence for enterprises seeking to reduce the complexities of deploying a unified communications system.