NSC Solutions has partnered with Sun Microsystems to integrate the vendor's range of thin clients to its converged communications solution portfolio.

NSC managing director, Craig Neil, said it decided to partner with Sun after feedback from customers.

"We're answering the pain points of our customers - of high costs of a traditional desktop environment with the constant replacement of terminals, of power consumption and of green concerns," Neil said.

"Of the 20 CIOs we surveyed, five had budgeted for this technology already, five had forecasted bringing it in, and five more were interested in the technology. It's not for everyone, but the demand amongst our customers is strong," Neil said. "We're answering the pain points of our customers - of high costs of a traditional desktop environment with the constant replacement of terminals, of power consumption and of green concerns."

NSC has to make a number of commitments to the partnership including hiring new staff and skilling up existing staff. Ten new people will be brought in, bringing its total headcount to 165.

Sun director of partner sales, Sam Srinivasan, said NSC's commitment put them into its Principal partner tier.

Principal partners are above Membership and Associate level and below Executive.

"There's been a huge investment made by both parties," Srinivasan said. "NSC offers us skills in a specific area of the market [unified communications and call centres] that we previously had a weakness in - it fills a gap in our reach."

Srinivasan also pointed to NSC's national presence as a key factor behind the partnership.