Coping with competition
Is there a chance that Sun's emphasis on going up against Microsoft runs the risk of distracting you from other threats to Sun: Intel, IBM, and Linux?
No. We compete in two ways: head to head with vendors at a product level which includes Microsoft and IBM; and then second, with Microsoft's business practices in the US, some of which stifle innovation in the industry.
We have an eye on each area, we tackle them in different ways, and give them the appropriate emphasis to ensure the best outcome for Sun and its customers in the long-term. For example, we have moved into the lower-end server market, offering a range in the sub AU$2000 price range to capture the pent up demand for high-end performance at a lower price tag.
In the news page of www.sun.com, one recent article was entitled, "Linux on the Mainframe-Not a Good Idea". The following article's headline was "Sun Broadens Support for Linux". What's the real story?
Linux is good for Sun. It promotes open systems, and open standards, which is good news for the marketplace also. Any Linux solution increases the size of the Unix marketplace, keeps it open for innovation, and will run on Sun.
In regard to the mainframe, Linux is still open source, which makes it a dangerous technology for any mission critical functions as there is no one vendor who takes ultimate responsibility if a customer is having major problems.
Linux does, however, have a valuable role to play in applications at the edge of the network, such as firewalls, caching servers and network servers. That is why we have broadened our support for it.
In the past companies wanted two things from Sun: top-of-the-line hardware and stable operating-system software. Now the company seems to be focusing on storage, middleware, and Web services. Can the company cope with such a major shift in direction?
There is no major shift in direction. Everything Sun is doing is consistent with where we have been and our vision for the future. We have always offered storage and middleware, and Web services is simply an enhancement of our offering.
We are headed in the same direction we have for the last 20 years: to be the number one provider of infrastructure for networked computing. And history has proven that we can cope with managing the growth that flows from that strategy.
About Sun Microsystems
Sun is a provider of hardware, software, and services for establishing enterprise-wide intranets and expanding the power of the Internet. Sun Microsystems Australia joined the Australian Top 500 list in 1992, just six years after the company was formed and currently ranks number 287.
