Sun Shakeup Continues as Zander Announces Departure

Zander, 55, says he plans to retire from Sun at the end of the current quarter, ending a 15-year tenure with the technology franchise.

Sun will not immediately replace him, instead chairman and CEO Scott McNealy will assume the role of president on July 1.

"I am proud of all that we have achieved at Sun," Zander said in a statement Wednesday. "As we are marching down the path back to profitability and have, for the most part, completed our massive product and customer engagement transitions, I believe I have accomplished what I set out to do."

Zander added that he feels Sun is in a strong technology position with new server products and that his departure comes on a "high note" for the company. However, Sun has fallen on hard times financially. News of Zander's impending retirement sent Sun's stock price tumbling below $7 to its lowest point in almost five years. McNealy contends that the company is still in good shape and that Sun is on target to return to profitability this quarter after a string of losses.

Still, the loss of several top executives in the last few weeks, including CFO Michael Lehman, executive president of enterprise services Larry Hambly and executive vice president of computer services John Shoemaker, has taken a toll. The most troublesome executive change is the loss of Zander, who was credited with executing Sun's major strategies and overseeing day-to-day operations.

"McNealy has always been the visionary at Sun, but Zander is just a brilliant guy and a solid leader," says a former Sun employee who wished to remain anonymous. "It makes sense in a way not to replace him because they're in a tough position financially, but he was a big part of their entrepreneurial culture over there."

Sun partners say they don't expect Zander's exit to affect their relationship with Sun or the technology direction of the company.

"I haven't paid much attention to all the executive changes because they don't usually affect solution providers," says Mark Romanowski, senior vice president at AMC, a Sun reseller. "As long as [Zander's retirement doesn't affect the channel and they keep the same technology direction, we're not going to worry about it."

However, some partners are concerned McNealy may be taking on too much responsibility by assuming Zander's duties.

"I personally have some reservations with McNealy taking on all these roles," says Jim Knudsen, technical director of Digital Technology International. "We're quite happy with their new technology and we don't plan to change our partnership with them based on this news. Sun's going through a lot of changes and if they can just get their feet on the ground, they'll be okay."

Zander has remained quite about his future plans, although few expect him to remain retired.

"I wouldn't be surprised to see him pop up on another company's board next year," Knudsen says. "He's a great executive."