The global business communications company Mitel is set to acquire Unify, the unified communications and collaborations (UCC) and communication and collaboration services (CCS) businesses of Atos, the digital transformation and cloud-computing company. Though the transaction of Unify still needs to jump though regulatory and employee consultation hoops, it is expected to close in the second half of 2023.
With this transaction, the aim of Mitel is to address the communication needs of businesses through a broad range of on-premises, hybrid and private cloud systems as well as enterprise managed services. The unified communications-as-a-service and cloud contact center-as-a-service options from Unity will go a long way here, as they have about €550 million ($598 million) in revenues and 3,000 employees around the world.
“Demand for UC globally is massive and full of potential,” said Zeus Kerravala, Founder and Principal Analyst, ZK Research. “This announcement makes that even more interesting by putting the combined Mitel-Unify organization in a compelling position to capitalize on the market opportunity that lies ahead. The complementary strengths of Mitel’s mid-market expertise and Unify’s successful enterprise Managed Services business will make Mitel a highly competitive option for mid-to-enterprise organizations.”
In this deal Mitel would get Unify’s voice platform, collaboration and contact center products, device/endpoint portfolio and related IP. The Unify managed service business, and its digital transformation track record, would also be included.
“The addition of their successful global managed services, vertical capabilities and engineering excellence would bring scale, expertise and new capabilities to Mitel that would strengthen our ability to deliver choice and flexibility for customers in today’s rapidly changing world of business communications," said Tarun Loomba, President and CEO of Mitel. “Mitel and Unify’s channel partner communities represent a wealth of expertise available to guide customers forward as they aim to communicate and collaborate more effectively, particularly in this new world of hybrid work. Together, our portfolios and channel community would empower customers anywhere to leverage communications in ways that best support their needs and help them thrive.”
By combining Mitel and Unify, they hope to boost the UCC scene in Europe and America. This is a distinct possibility, as they would have a collective customer base of over 75 million users in more than 100 countries. Additionally, the channel community would be as large as 5,500 global partners.