Partners Debate Sun One's Merits

Partners said it's more expensive and time-consuming to interchange competing products with various Sun ONE components, even those built on the same standards.

"Let's say you don't want to use the [Sun ONE application server, you want to use BEA [Systems' application server," said Bob Lytle, vice president of technology at solution provider Dewpoint, Lansing, Mich. "Yeah, I can make it work, but how many late nights do I have to spend? The quickest integration is with the whole stack, and [Sun knows this."

Last week, Sun sponsored a Webcast to discuss how Sun ONE is an open alternative to proprietary systems such as Microsoft .Net or IBM WebSphere. Simon Phipps, Sun's chief technology evangelist, told CRN that Sun has "labored hard" to ensure the Sun ONE architecture,which includes middleware, developer tools and the Solaris operating system,is not only an integrated platform, but an integratable one. That is, solution providers can either use the software platform as a unified stack, or they can swap one of the products, such as the Sun ONE application server, with a competing product built on the same Java and XML standards.

"Integratable is about saying Sun ONE offers you one-stop-shopping but with the freedom to live with the decision you've already made," Phipps said.

But that scenario "doesn't work fine when you're competing on [a request for proposal," said Michael Landry, director of consulting services at Burntsand, a solution provider in Toronto. "When someone wants to sell an integrated stack and you say, 'We want to use something else here,' there is a conflict on this."