Sun Execs: No Immediate Plans To Expand CDW, Insight Relationships

Sun Microsystems CDW Computer Centers Insight Enterprises GE Access

"Right now, [CDW and Insight carry the low-end volume products, Cobalt Linux products and low-end Solaris up to two-way," said Cheryl Cook, director of channel development partner relations at Sun. "That's not changing right now. We've been pleased so far. We're evaluating [higher-end product authorizations. We've got competition in Wintel four-way and eight-way. We want the business to be incremental to Sun, not predatory to other channels."

Vernon Hills, Ill.-based CDW and Tempe, Ariz.-based Insight account for only about 0.1 percent of Sun's revenue, said Michael Walsh, director of partner marketing at Sun.

Sun has seen little evidence that CDW and Insight have conflicted with solution providers for business, said Bill Cate, director of the iForce program office at Sun.

"We cautiously move into those relationships. I've attended many partner meetings and councils and when the topic comes up 'How many times have they run into your space?' [The answer is hardly ever," Cate said. "We're pleased that 99-plus percent of the time the point-of-sale reports are brand-new [customer names from these partners. We're driving incremental business with a limited product set. Eventually, we hope to drive incremental Sun products into those customers."

Solution providers like William Neill, national account manager at Atlanta-based e-deltacom, aren't as worried about direct marketers selling low-end products as they are about those companies moving up the food chain.

"It would have been nice to hear more of a commitment that they wouldn't move up to departmental servers like the [Enterprise 220R or the [Enterprise 420R," Neill said. "That will be the next battleground."