Sun Microsystems Inc. released two bundled packages of Java software on Wednesday -- one for desktops and one for servers
-- along with pricing moves intended to bolster its position in the Java software market.
Sun's Java Enterprise System, a package of tightly bundled server software, is available now for $100 per employee. It includes
Sun's application server, directory server, portal server and around a dozen or so other products. It was announced in September
and is offered as an alternative to buying the products separately.
Sun also released its Java Desktop System, a suite of open source products designed to compete with Microsoft Corp.'s Windows
and Office software. The desktop system includes a version of Linux, the Mozilla Web browser, Sun's StarOffice productivity
suite and several other products. It is also priced at $100 per employee, or $50 for customers who also buy the Enterprise
System.
Hoping to spur wider use of its software, Sun said Wednesday that businesses with less than 100 employees can download the
Java Enterprise System for free, minus any services and technical support. In addition, it announced pricing of $1,000 per
processor for embedded OEMs (original equipment makers) and independent software vendors, who it hopes will bundle the software
with their products.
On the desktop side, businesses can get the Java Desktop System for half the list price if they buy it before June 2 next
year, Sun said.
The announcements were made at a press conference in Berlin and are part of Sun's quarterly release of new products and upgrades.
Along with the software news, which also includes updates to Solaris, the company announced new hardware, including its first
server based on a processor from Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD).
Sun has reported several quarters of declining revenue, battered by an ongoing slump in sales of its higher-end Unix servers.
As part of a turnaround strategy it has been promoting its software more heavily as a way of generating new business. The
products compete with offerings from IBM Corp., Microsoft, BEA Systems Inc., Oracle Corp. and others.
Sun says its Java Enterprise System is less complex to use and maintain than software from other vendors, in part because
the products have been tightly integrated and are upgraded all together each quarter. It also says businesses can save money
under the per employee pricing system, which is based on a company's total headcount as reported in regulatory filings.
While the offer may sound compelling, the test will be how well Sun executes on its plan, analysts said. Until the Java Enterprise
System has been put through its paces by customers it's too early to say if it will live up to Sun's promises, said Stephen
O'Grady, a senior analyst with the consulting company RedMonk, in Bath, Maine.
"It looks like a good offering and it's something that's been getting them a lot of attention, but whether that will translate
into sales remains to be seen. Our general line is that a lot depends on how well Sun executes, how well the software actually
performs," he said.
Sun didn't manage to get all of its server products into the first release. Its integration server won't be included until
the fifth release, according to a roadmap on Sun's Web site, which could be as much as a year away. The high-end version of
its application server, which includes clustering and other advanced features, also isn't included yet.
Customers who aren't interested in Sun's software may still benefit from its pricing because it provides them with added leverage
to negotiate better deals with other vendors, RedMonk's O'Grady said.
Sun's goal is to get its software into the hands of as many customers and developers as possible -- even if it means giving
the software away for free to customers who wouldn't otherwise buy it, such as small businesses, said Jonathan Schwartz, Sun's
executive vice president in charge of software.
"We look at software in general at Sun as a way to open new markets. Whether we give away a product for free and upsell or
upgrade, or give the Java runtime away for free and sell the desktop, we are focussed on pursuing market expansion with software,
then we'll monetize it by selling other software and services and systems," he said.
Wider use of the software will encourage more ISVs to port their software to the Java platform, according to Schwartz -- he
offered the example of financial applications developed for IBM mainframes. It will also help to ensure a steady supply of
developers with skills in Java, he said.
The Java Enterprise System is available for Solaris running on Sun's Sparc chips and on x86 chips from Intel Corp. and AMD.
Next year it will be offered on Linux and Windows, which should also help proliferate the use of the products, Schwartz said.
Sun is also willing to drop the price of its desktop software in exchange for wider distribution. It struck a deal recently
to provide China Standard Software Co. Ltd. (CSSC), a consortium of technology companies that does work for the government
in China, with as many as 1 million seats of its Java Desktop System.
"As we move to deals in the millions we need to look at a pricing scheme that lowers the barriers to entry. ... One way is
by setting up a 'per citizen' price, likely based on the GDP (gross domestic product) of a country, and using that as a mechanism
to cultivate new market opportunities for Sun," Schwartz said.
Analysts have questioned how much money Sun stands to make from the deal in China. Schwartz declined to say what price the
Chinese government is paying for the software, but insisted that Sun stands to profit considerably from the deal.
Sun moved to a system recently where it releases all of its new and upgraded products in quarterly cycles. The following software
news was also announced Wednesday:
-- Project Rave, Sun's much anticipated Java development environment and the centerpiece of its plan to broaden Java's appeal
by making it easier to use, was officially named Java Studio Creator. It includes the basic components for building Web-based
Java applications, said Joe Keller, a Sun vice president of marketing. But certain components, such as one for creating network
identities, will not be included, he said. The software is expected to be production-ready by late summer of 2004. It will
initially support Windows, Solaris and Solaris on x86. A Linux version is in the works, Keller said.
-- Starting Dec. 15, Sun will provide support services for customers using OpenOffice, the free version of its StarOffice
productivity suite. Pricing wasn't available late Tuesday.
-- Sun is developing two new tools for the Java Desktop System for release in the first half of 2004. One is for configuring
desktops, the other is for helping users migrate from Windows PCs to Sun's, said Curtis Sasaki, vice president of engineering
for Sun's Desktop
Solutions group.
-- Sun announced the N1 Service Provisioning System, part of its N1 initiative for managing datacenters efficiently. It's
due in the first quarter next year for Solaris, RedHat, Windows 2000 and AIX, and is designed to help customers deploy applications
more quickly across a group of servers. Pricing wasn't announced.
-- Sun announced several enhancements to Solaris, including performance improvements for servers based on x86 processors,
and better diagnostic capabilities. Details will be posted at http://www.sun.com/solaris.
(Robert McMillan of the IDG News Service San Francisco bureau contributed to this report.)
E-mail
Printer Friendly
Reprints
(InfoWorld) - In the litigious world we live in, deploying a unified communications platform in your enterprise could...
