Sun Execs Say Vendor Will Expand Channel

In an interview with CRN at the SunNetwork show, held in San Francisco this week, Cheryl Kelly, global director of Sun's iForce partner initiatives, said Sun's partner community needs more growth to help distribute Sun's Java Enterprise System, particularly on the vendor's X86-based server line.

"I would not say we are overly distributed," Kelly said of Sun's products in that space. However, Kelly said Sun is taking a "phased approach" to educating its channel on the newly introduced Java Enterprise System, formerly code-named Project Orion.

Sun has started the process with current partners, many of which come from its traditional 64-bit hardware business, she said. "We have to start with existing partners," Kelly said.

Sun has kept those partners, both hardware and software, in the loop on the Java Enterprise System strategy every step of the way, and will continue to train partners on the system so they will be ready for its widespread release in November, Kelly said.

Once this phase is over, Sun will begin recruiting new partners to help sell the Java software stack, including partners that play in the low-end server market, she said.

To help make the Java Enteprise System attractive out of the gate for channel partners in the SMB space, Sun made sales of the system a pure channel play for companies with fewer than 1,000 employees.

The Java Enterprise System bundles a slew of Sun software for a yearly subscription of $100 per employee.

The first version of the suite will include Sun Cluster Server; Message Queue Enterprise Edition; Instant Messaging; Calendar Server; Messaging Server; Portal Server; Portal Remote Access Server; Identity Server; Web Server; Standard Edition and Platform Edition versions of the Sun ONE Application Server; and Directory Server.

Customers can begin ordering the Java Enterprise System now, but general availability of a version for Sun's Solaris operating system running on either SPARC-based servers or X86-based servers is slated for November. A Linux version of the product will be available in the beginning of next year, according to Sun.

Sun has seen some early success with beta partners that have built solutions using the Java Enterprise System. Sun partners Dewpoint and Back Bay Technologies, which had early access to the software, already have closed deals with customers for solutions based on the software.

Sun made an effort to bolster its low-end server distribution by allowing VARs working with distributor Tech Data to distribute one- and two-way servers this summer.

Still, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based vendor still must overcome a widespread perception that buying low-end servers from Dell or Hewlett-Packard is more cost-effective than buying them from Sun before Sun can gain significant market share in that space, industry observers said.