Sun Microsystems Strengthens Collaboration Over Distance with Webex

WebEx Customer Success Story

Today, more than half of Sun employees no longer have permanent offices. WebEx provided the collaboration tool we needed to bridge distances and geographies, and effectively boost productivity. —Chris Saleh, Program Manager, Open Work Services Group

Sun Microsystems strengthens collaboration over distance with WebEx.

Established in 1982, Sun Microsystems, At the time, Sun’s main tool for real-time Inc. is the global supplier of network com- collaboration was the telephone. “Some • INDUSTRY puting solutions that power the world’s departments and newly acquired compa- Technology most demanding businesses. The companies were using their own online meeting ny’s proven portfolio of systems, software, solutions, but we needed a standardized • WebEx APPLICATIONS and services provides integrated solutions collaboration environment that we could Meeting Center, Training Center, make available to everyone across the Event Center, Support Center, that enable customers to simplify their WebEx Sales Center IT infrastructure, reduce costs, and man- company,” Saleh explains. In 2006, Saleh’s age data intelligently and securely. Among group conducted a corporate-wide survey • Summary Sun’s many breakthrough technologies are that confirmed Sun was deficient in collab- Sun Microsystems required an the Solaris Operating System and Java, oration tools enabling employees to work enterprise-wide collaboration tool the world’s number one programming over distance. “We needed a solution that to meet the needs of a widely made it possible for our employees to col- distributed workforce. WebEx platform. Today, Sun conducts business in 100 countries around the globe. laborate in real-time with co-workers and helped Sun create an open work partners around the globe,” he states. environment, bridging geographies while enabling employees to work The Challenge At Sun Microsystems, the Open Work The Solution conveniently from anywhere, any Chosen by the IT department years before, time. Enterprise-wide use of WebEx Services Group plays a critical role in maxi- WebEx was already in place at Sun but has significantly reduced operating mizing both corporate productivity and wasn’t used much. Saleh says, “We hadn’t costs, increased productivity, and employee satisfaction. “Sun formulated integrated WebEx properly at Sun. We opened new business opportunities the Open Work Services Group to create knew WebEx was the market leader and for the company. Working closely the most effective work environment and with the WebEx team to optimize offered an excellent tool set. When we achieve the greatest degree of work-life usage, Sun now conducts 1,600 realized we needed an enterprise-wide col- balance for our employees.” In the last few WebEx meetings and hosts 8,500 laboration tool, we decided to re-examine years, however, a number of significant attendees online every month. our WebEx deployment.” Saleh began developments at Sun resulted in a new set working closely with the WebEx account • ABOUT SUN MICROSYSTEMS of challenges for the Group. As Sun grew Line of Business team. “The WebEx account team is great. globally, the company became more geo- They helped us develop a business case Developer of servers, storage, graphically dispersed. Sun’s engineering software, and services to convince the different departments at teams, for instance, suddenly spanned five Sun to change the way they were work- • Headquarters sites including Bangalore, St. Petersburg, ing with the solution,” he says. As a result, Santa Clara, CA and Beijing. In addition, the acquisition of Sun stopped billing individual departments other companies and consequent reorgani- for WebEx usage and converted to an • Number of Employees zations resulted in a surplus of real estate, 38,600 unlimited plan, providing each seat with and Sun began to close campuses. “We 24-hour-a-day access to all five WebEx • Target Market decided to invest in people rather than real solutions. In addition, many of the com- Large enterprises and organizations estate, and we began offering employees panies Sun had acquired already owned the option to work at home,” says Chris WebEx licenses. “The WebEx account • WebEx Customer Since 2000 Saleh, Program Manager for the Open team helped consolidate all our licenses Work Services Group at Sun. worldwide,” adds Saleh. WebEx helped us transform our vision into reality. We’ve even developed a new consulting business to help other companies create the same type of open work organization we’ve created at Sun. —Chris Saleh, Program Manager, Open Work Services Group

Today, Sun primarily uses WebEx Meeting using WebEx. It makes my job much Sun’s close relationship with the WebEx Center across the organization to com- easier,” says Denise Cummings, Program account team ensured the optimal imple- municate with, train, and support internal Manager for the team. Using WebEx, the mentation and usage of WebEx throughout and external customers located around PDM project, a multi-year effort touch- the organization. “Sun has a great partner- the world. “Reports generated in March ing many organizations at Sun, conducts ship with WebEx. The WebEx account 2007 indicate that approximately 480 online workshops, presentations, appli- team is professional, responsive, and users host WebEx sessions every month cation demos, and document reviews. accommodating,” remarks Saleh. At the and the organization conducts 70 to 80 “WebEx provides an excellent platform to time Sun renewed its account with WebEx, online meetings per day. On average, we work interactively with our disparate team Saleh created a list of requirements for the have nearly 8,500 attendees participating members. We’ve been able to simulate WebEx team. “We needed WebEx to oper- in WebEx meetings every month,” states real-world scenarios across geographies, ate smoothly on the Sun Solaris platform Saleh. The solution’s intuitive capabilities incorporate pre-recorded demos into live running on the Intel X86 processor. WebEx facilitate remote sales calls, demonstra- workshops, and troubleshoot problems made that happen,” explains Saleh. While tions, installations, and product trainings. in real time,” says Ben Edelstein, Process the majority of employees use Solaris, According to Maria Vaidou, a software pro- Architect for the PDM Project. many of the companies that Sun acquired gram marketing manager at Sun, “WebEx are Windows-centric. “Multi-platform sup- makes it easy to communicate with sales The Benefits port is very important for us. WebEx sup- colleagues located throughout 96 coun- WebEx helped the Open Work Services ports both Solaris and Windows, accom- tries.” WebEx registration and automatic Group deliver on its initiative to enable modating the needs of all of our employ- notifications make the sessions easy to Sun employees to work from anywhere, ees,” he says. plan, while the application sharing feature any time—reducing costs, increasing enables effective visual demonstrations. productivity, and opening new business The Future “WebEx is easy to navigate. You can see opportunities for the company. “Today, Since implementing the unlimited WebEx who’s dialing in and can chat in real time, more than half of Sun employees no longer usage plan six months ago, Saleh has making the Q& A sessions especially valu- have permanent offices. WebEx provided received a very positive response from able,” she says. the collaboration tool we needed to bridge Sun’s WebEx user community. The distances and geographies, and effectively Education Services Department at Sun WebEx also facilitates program and prod- boost productivity,” says Saleh. As a result was unhappy with the online solution it uct development for global teams by of the new work environment, Sun has used to provide online product training to providing highly interactive online meet- increased employee satisfaction and saved its customers. Saleh comments, “When ings. For the IBIS Spares Team at Sun, on energy and real estate costs. “WebEx they found out that WebEx was available WebEx enables colleagues to provide helped us transform our vision into reality. at Sun, they switched over and are now input to documents the team is creating or We’ve even developed a new consulting very happy users.” Saleh is also extremely editing in real time. “Meeting participants business to help other companies create satisfied with WebEx. “I know we made the review the process documents online the same type of open work organization right choice. We plan on using WebEx well and see their input incorporated instantly we’ve created at Sun,” he says. into the future,” he concludes.

Highlights • WebEx helped Sun create an open work environment enabling employees to work from anywhere, any time. • Enterprise-wide use of WebEx significantly reduced operating costs, increased productivity, and opened new business opportunities for the company. • Working closely with the WebEx team to optimize usage, Sun now conducts 1,600 WebEx meetings and hosts 8,500 attendees online per month.

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