Zander: Sun Seeks United Front With Solution Providers

Sun Microsystems

Speaking in his keynote to kick off Sun's iForce Partner Conference 2002 here, Zander said partners are key to Sun's ability to succeed in competitive markets as the industry battles recession, particularly in the area of storage and network-edge servers.

He also expressed confidence in Sun's economic recovery, mainly because he said Sun's customers know which direction they must go to leverage the Internet and take full advantage of Web services.

"I really feel that it's not as bad as it seems because I spend a lot of time with customers," Zander told solution providers, VARs and ISVs attending Sun's annual partner event. "When you talk to CIOs, CEOs, IT [leaders, you get the idea where things are going."

While Zander admitted he feared things would get worse before they got better in the U.S. economy, he said Sun's plan for future success is simple and three-fold: to create strong innovation around the Internet and services on demand with Sun ONE; to return to Sun's historical business model, which entails relying heavily on partners to engage customers; and to enhance and integrate this model across more vertical industries and global geographies.

"People say to us, 'You make the Net work,' " said Zander, referring to Sun's latest ad campaign. He said simplifying the proliferation of the Internet on any device is the "entire Sun strategy."

Zander also said that storage is an area of intense focus for Sun. Analysts have said Sun lags far behind market leaders Compaq Computer, EMC and IBM in the storage space, though the vendor has been making some inroads to improve that position.

Zander said that storage is the No. 1 area of focus for Sun's research and development team and is the No. 1 area in which Sun is considering making an acquisition.

"I can't underscore how important [storage is to us and our customer base," said Zander. "I can't tell you how many customers would rather buy from us [than other vendors if we had a best-of-breed solution."

Network-edge servers such as Cobalt and Blade servers running Linux are other key products for Sun, said Zander. He said many customers, and even his own salespeople, are hesitant to sell these products now because they don't represent a lot of margin, but added this must change if Sun and its partners are to take advantage of what will be a "huge" market.

Aside from Sun's traditional hardware business, Zander also cited the growing investment Sun is making in software, particularly with the rebranding of iPlanet, Solaris and Forte under the Sun ONE name. He said Sun's success in selling software, something analysts say it has never done well, is crucial to Sun retaining its leadership position in hardware.

"If you lose this battle to Microsoft .Net and [IBM WebSphere, you're going to lose the hardware later on," said Zander. Zander also recognized EMC as Sun's third main competitor.

"We just have to take them out," said Zander of EMC. Then, with one of many jokes that peppered his speech, he said to partners, "A lot of you [are selling EMC. Drop them and go with us. We'll give you a discount."

"I'm tired of dwelling on the past," said Zander. "Things are starting to firm up, and I feel better that everyone I talk to knows where they need to go. I think things are improving."

Zander was upbeat throughout his speech, kicking it off with a joke. Before his speech, Sun showed a video in which Sun Vice President of Partner Management and Sales Operations Gary Grimes, Sun Executive Vice President of Global Sales Operations Masood Jabbar and Sun Vice President of America Sales John Marselle appeared to be skydiving with a group of professional skydivers in Sun-colored and branded jumpsuits. Then, the three bounded onstage wearing those jumpsuits.

"Now I know what my sales force has been doing for the past six months," joked Zander when he took the stage following his sales leaders' antics. "They sure haven't been selling anything." Then, addressing his sales team, he said, "If you don't make this quarter we're going to give you the suits without the rip cords."