A 'Channel-Friendly' Sun
Sun Chairman and CEO Scott McNealy said in an interview with CRN that the Santa Clara, Calif.-based vendor has "never been more channel-friendly." But he noted that Sun's channel partners are having trouble competing against IBM's and Hewlett-Packard's large services organizations and need Sun's support.
"I'm telling our field organization, 'Listen, you're not getting more head count,' " McNealy said.
" 'The only way you're going to get more feet on the street is by enlisting and driving channel partners.' We're working very hard to provide more reference architectures and more training programs."
Sun's partner community needs more growth to distribute new products such as the Java Enterprise System, said Cheryl Kelly, global director of Sun's iForce partner initiatives. The vendor is taking a "phased approach" in educating the channel about its latest offerings, starting with current partners and then moving to newly recruited partners, Kelly said.
The Java Enterprise System, unveiled at the Sun Network show, bundles a host of Sun's Java-based software for a $100 per-employee annual subscription, rather than on a per-CPU basis. Sun also introduced the Java Desktop System, a Linux-based desktop operating system positioned as an alternative to Microsoft Windows. The Java Desktop System costs $100 per desktop per year, and the price gets cut to $50 per desktop per year if purchased with the Java Enterprise System.
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Sun's McNealy says more reference architectures and training are on tap.
Solution providers said the Java Enterprise System, despite some obstacles, likely will fare better than the Java Desktop System out of the gate. Rob Mock, president and CEO of Dewpoint, Brighton, Mich., said Sun needs more ISV support to spur what could potentially be a "tornado" of sales for the Java Enterprise System.
Portability is another issue for the software, said Marc Maselli, president and CEO of Back Bay Technologies, Boston. Sun plans to offer the first versions of the product on Solaris and Linux, but it also will need to offer a Windows version, he said.
The suite also will be a tough sell among customers looking for point solutions, Maselli said. "If they're looking for a Volkswagen, they're not going to buy a Cadillac," he said, adding that the system will have more success among enterprises seeking an entire architecture to meet a specific business need.
Sun also unveiled entry-level servers at the show. Company executives said the new products will compete strongly on price with Dell and other vendors.
The new servers include the V440, which has up to four UltraSPARC 3i processors, and the V250, a tower unit with one or two UltraSPARC 3i processors and space for up to six AMD server blades. The V440 starts at $9,995, and the V250 starts at $2,999.
Neil Knox, executive vice president of volume systems products at Sun, also hinted that the company may introduce a four-way, x86-based server next quarter.
JOSEPH F. KOVAR contributed to this story.