RELATED RESOURCES    »  Sun Open Work Practice Learn how your institution can transition towards a flexible, mobile workforce

I am an active participant in Sun's flexible Open Work program for its mobile and distributed workforce. Open Work combines leading-edge technologies and forward-thinking work practices that create an innovative, productive work environment where the network is the computer and employees can work anywhere, anytime, using any device.

The program offers flexible work choices that include the option to work regularly from home or a local drop-in center, which allows employees to spend less time and money on commuting. I can frequently be found working from Sun's San Francisco drop-in center.

Drop-in centers provide workspaces and resources that employees can use at their convenience. No advance reservations are needed. Reservable drop-in centers support workers whose primarily designation is "flex." Blocks of non-reservable drop-in stations are also located through out most Sun buildings to help me and other employees stay productive between meetings.

Reducing CO2 Emissions by Thousands of Tons
I appreciate the flexibility provided by the Open Work program. I gain productivity while reducing stress by avoiding a lengthy commute in heavy traffic. Sun's Open Work program has been credited as having a positive impact on the environment by eliminating more than 3000 tons of CO2 emissions that would have been generated by employees spending hundreds of thousands of hours in bumper-to-bumper traffic

The positive impact on the environment made by Sun participants in the Open Work program resulted in Sun being designated as one of the "Best Workplaces for Commuters" by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Transportation. For the third year in a row, Sun was among the top 10 FORTUNE 500 companies to lead the country by providing outstanding commuter benefits to a significant portion of its U.S. workforce to help decrease air pollution, traffic congestion, and dependence on fossil fuels. Sun tops the rankings as the number one company in the computer and office equipment industry.

Transition Your Own Organization Towards Workforce Flexibility
Sun is sharing the benefits of the Open Work program and its enabling tools and technologies through its newly established Sun Open Works Practice, designed to help Education and organizations in other industries realize millions in savings by deploying a flexible, mobile 21st century workforce.

Sun's Open Work solutions include feature Sun Ray thin clients powered by Sun Fire servers and the Secure Network Application Platform. A thin client computing solution can transform office desktops, dorm room work areas, libraries, classrooms and faculty offices into secure and mobile workplaces and provide a flexible, comprehensive, and open software solution that optimizes existing IT investments.

Each user accesses his or her computing environment via a secure, personal Java Card. An employee or student can access computing resources quickly, easily, and securely from any location where ultra-thin Sun Ray clients are located.

Education Success with Thin Client Computing
One successful Sun Ray deployment is at Valparaiso University in Indiana. To eliminate complex, costly and time-consuming administration of problematic PCs, Valparaiso is deploying more than 120 Sun Ray virtual display clients across its campus — in labs, in the newly constructed 30,000-square-foot library facility, in its administrative offices and dormitories.

To have outfitted the labs with PCs would have been cost-prohibitive — as much as $6,000 per workstation — and would have required a significant time commitment from IT to maintain. By contrast, the Sun Ray, at half the size and consuming only 5 percent of the power of a traditional PC, offered a smaller footprint, dramatically lower power consumption, and the ability to run both UNIX and Microsoft platforms from a single desktop — all at prices significantly lower than comparable PCs.

In addition, because applications reside on the server, IT staff no longer has to manually update each desktop, but can simply update the servers to provide the latest applications and virus updates to workstations across campus. That capability reduces IT maintenance requirements by 97 percent — from eight hours per week to one hour per month. Solaris 9 and 10 Operating Systems run on the Sun servers that support the Sun Rays.

Doubling Availability with Sun Ray Thin Clients
Valparaiso's IT staff was so impressed with the Sun Rays in the labs that university administrators decided to deploy them in other environments. Valparaiso replaced the PCs in its on-campus kiosks, which students use to access email, course schedules, and other campus information, with the Sun Ray thin clients and nearly doubled availability in the process.

The PCs were down nearly half the time, while the Sun Ray clients have provided 97 percent availability. The university has also replaced PCs in the College of Engineering, and has chosen to deploy Sun Rays throughout its newly constructed, state-of-the-art library and research facility.

I'm sold on Open Work and on the power of Sun Ray thin client solution. I am more productive, I experience fewer instances of downtime, and don't have to worry about troublesome viruses. I enjoy the flexibility that comes with Java Card technology and the reduced level of stress that comes from not having to battle heavy traffic in peak commute hours.

I feel good that Sun's Open Work program is both supporting my team in the way we live and work — and benefiting the planet by reducing CO2 emissions.

Get started today! Schedule a briefing with a Sun Open Work practice expert and find out how your campus can cut costs, reduce productivity, and benefit the environment.

Sincerely yours,

Kim Jones
VP, Global Education, Government, and Health Sciences

Questions or comments? Please email education_news@sun.com