The News: On October 2, Mitel confirmed the completion of its acquisition of Unify from the Atos group, positioning the combined entity as the second-largest global enterprise in unified communications (UC). This merger strengthens Mitel’s leadership in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region and expands its customer base to over 75 million users across 100 countries.
Tarun Loomba will continue as the President and CEO of the combined company, with Marcus Hänsel appointed as the chief sales officer. The acquisition aims to enhance communication capabilities for modern workplaces and is expected to drive growth and innovation in the UC sector.
Read the full press release on Mitel’s website.
Mitel Completes the Acquisition of Unify From the Atos Group
Analyst Take: Nine months after Mitel announced that it had entered into exclusive negotiations with Atos to acquire Unify, the unified communications and collaboration (UCC) services and communication and collaboration services (CCS) businesses of the Atos group, company officials have confirmed the acquisition is now completed. The purchase, subject to regulatory nods and consultations of the relevant employee representative bodies, was completed within the original timeframe suggested when it was first announced.
The merger of Mitel and Unify is not just a business transaction; it is a strategic maneuver that positions the combined entity as a formidable UC contender, especially in the Americas and Europe. With this merger, Mitel’s outreach is set to encompass over 75 million users spread across 100+ countries and a robust global channel community of over 5,500 partners. This merger not only amplifies Mitel’s organizational scale but also paves the way for increased global revenue.
The acquisition’s underlying strength lies in the harmonious blending of both companies’ core competencies. Mitel, with its stronghold in the mid-market domain, and Unify, with its enterprise managed services prowess, are poised to offer a competitive edge in the UC landscape.
Tarun Loomba, Mitel’s president and CEO, underscored the vast opportunities in the UC sector, emphasizing how Unify’s inclusion would enrich Mitel’s offerings. “Unify brings a strong geographic footprint, rich portfolio, deep enterprise expertise, and talented team that perfectly complement Mitel’s strengths. I am truly excited about the future we will build together and the critical communications innovation we will deliver for our customers, partners, and employees,” said Loomba.
Integration and Forward Path
In the initial post-acquisition stages, company officials shared that a degree of operational independence might be maintained to ensure business continuity. However, as integration deepens, a unified approach is anticipated, amalgamating the best of both worlds. This process would involve streamlining operations, optimizing product portfolios, and delivering a seamless UC solution. The specifics of this integration, including potential rebranding, will unfold in subsequent months.
RingCentral’s Role in the Equation
One area of overlap between Mitel and Unify is that each company had previously established individual relationships with RingCentral, a prominent player in the UC as a service (UCaaS) space. Unify’s partnership with RingCentral has been strategic, with Marcus Hänsel, former CEO of Unify at Atos and now CSO at Mitel, emphasizing its importance. He mentioned, “We have a strategic partnership with RingCentral, similar to Mitel. A proof point that we’re going in the same direction.” This collaboration has allowed Unify to brand the RingCentral offer as Unify Office, catering to core markets where the Unify brand holds significant weight. Mitel has its own dynamics with RingCentral, which might be slightly different in terms of market approach but aligns in strategic direction.
Speculatively, as the two companies integrate, they might reevaluate how they engage with RingCentral. The combined entity could seek to harmonize its partnerships, potentially leading to a more unified go-to-market strategy, enhanced service offerings, or even co-developed solutions. The future might hold even more collaborative and strategic engagements with RingCentral.
Future Outlook
As Mitel pulls this UCC and CCS powerhouse into its offering of products and services, the spotlight will be on optimizing operations, refining product offerings, and ensuring an uninterrupted experience for their collective clientele. In addition, aligning their historically channel-centric go-to-market strategies will be pivotal.
Challenging as it might seem, the path forward is clear, and Mitel has a good leadership team working on the integration. As the integration unfolds, I expect to see unparalleled value delivered to customers, partners, and stakeholders.
Disclosure: The Futurum Group is a research and advisory firm that engages or has engaged in research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.
Analysis and opinions expressed herein are specific to the analyst individually and data and other information that might have been provided for validation, not those of The Futurum Group as a whole.
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Image Credit: Mitel
Author Information
As Practice Lead - Workplace Collaboration, Craig focuses on developing research, publications and insights that clarify how the workforce, the workplace, and the workflows enable group collaboration and communication. He provides research and analysis related to market sizing and forecasts, product and service evaluations, market trends, and end-user and buyer expectations. In addition to following the technology, Craig also studies the human elements of work - organizing his findings into the workforce, the workplace, and the workflows – and charting how these variables influence technologies and business strategies.
Prior to joining Wainhouse, now a part of The Futurum Group, Craig brings twenty years of experience in leadership roles related to P&L management, product development, strategic planning, and business development of security, SaaS, and unified communication offerings. Craig's experience includes positions at Poly, Dell, Microsoft, and IBM.
Craig holds a Master of Business Administration from the Texas McCombs School of Business as well as a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Tulane University.
