Sun Microsystems Redefines Services Relationship with Customers Through Revolutionary New Sun Connection

Delivers IT Operations Management as a Utility Servic

WASHINGTON, D.C.
May 3, 2005

During its Network Computing ’05 (NC05Q2) launch today, Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) announced Sun(SM) Connection, an integrated, secure services connection that links customers, partners, developers and Sun in a dynamic and collaborative network-based community. With Sun Connection, the network is a key component of Sun’s service relationship with its customers and a way for Sun to deliver ongoing value.

Sun Connection continuously benchmarks information technology (IT) health and performance and lets customers save time, money and resources by providing them real-time access to sophisticated remote servicing and predictive diagnostic services, availability status, software updates and other features. Sun Connection is designed for customers who self-manage their IT environments. Sun also announced Sun Management Connection, management services that leverage the Sun Connection capabilities and allow customers to selectively outsource their IT management to Sun.

“The challenge isn’t making the system scale, it’s making the customer scale. It’s not about fast computers, it’s about a fast customer,” said Jonathan Schwartz, president and chief operating officer at Sun. “Sun Connection is about the connected customer — always on, always connected. Sun Connection brings rocket science to the datacenter. By generating services economies of scale through technology and not people, Sun Connection is creating a new breakthrough IT services economic model — delivering IT as a service.”

Sun Connection harnesses more than 20 years of Sun innovation, including Sun Preventive Services, along with Sun best practices and network computing firsts, to provide intelligent services over the network through a simple graphical user interface. A base level of these new advanced services will be delivered within existing service plans at no additional cost to Sun customers.

The first new Sun Connection service is Sun Update Connection, Sun’s software update utility. Sun Update Connection delivers all the latest fixes and features for Sun software through a utility model, radically simplifying and helping to reduce the cost of keeping Sun systems and software up to date by offloading the task of managing updates to Sun. Sun Update Connection leverages the network to provide customers with access to Sun’s knowledge and updates, increasing efficiency of system and software maintenance and reducing IT cycles, all while increasing overall stability and security. Sun Update Connection helps customers minimize change by tapping into an extensive knowledge base, which includes more than one million system configurations and a powerful business rules engine, to provide informed recommendations about relevant updates.

“Sun Connection leverages Sun Grid and other Sun technologies in ways that deliver specific business benefits and value,” said Michael Dortch, principal business analyst, Robert Frances Group (RFG). “The ability to make granular recommendations for risk mitigation and system updates based on specific business needs and architectural considerations should be compelling to companies currently or considering doing business with Sun. With Sun Connection, Sun can credibly position itself as an effective, innovative provider of trusted IT services with demonstrable business benefits that can extend from single systems to entire enterprises.”

“Sun Connection is a great testament to the Sun connected customer strategy. It allows us to continue to reduce costs while taking advantage of Sun’s preventive capabilities, sophisticated analytics and partner knowledge,” said Bill Kirkland, president, Logistic Computer Services (LCS). “Sun Connection is really a unifying backdrop for the idea of leveraging IT as a service. Sun is way ahead of the competition in that LCS now has a flexible solution that enhances our services relationship with Sun and enables us to better service our customers.”

The initial release of Sun Update Connection delivers individual system updates for the Solaris(TM) 10 Operating System (OS) running on any platform — Sun, Dell, HP or IBM. Sun will later extend support for previous versions of the Solaris OS. In the future, Sun Update Connection will deliver updates for all Sun software and systems, including Java(TM) technology, firmware, middleware, the Sun Java Desktop System and even updates from Sun partners, including Veritas.

“Veritas and Sun have a long standing strategic alliance. Together we are always looking for ways to continually improve our customers’ support experience,” said Michael Wentz, senior vice president, Technical Services, Veritas Software. “We applaud Sun for offering their customers an innovative and efficient way to help keep their software secure and up-to-date.”

Through Sun Connection, users now have an entry point to Sun Grid, Sun’s new standardized global grid. With Sun Grid and Sun Connection, customers give up the expense and complexity of building out an entire computing infrastructure — and gain more flexibility to help run their businesses at significantly lower costs.

The Sun Connection portal will aggregate the following connected services:

  • Intelligent software updating (Sun Update Connection )
  • Configuration reporting and analysis
  • Remote event detection, notification and reporting
  • Availability reporting
  • Collaborative remote servicing
  • Access to a community of experts and best practices, self-support tools, and online training

About Sun Management Connection

Sun also announced today Sun Management Connection, which incorporates the remote managed services technology from the recent SevenSpace acquisition, delivering highly scalable, 24x7x365 remote management of heterogeneous IT environments over the Internet with no customer investment in IT infrastructure. Sun Management Connection helps customers reduce operations costs by up to 40 percent, refocus on strategic IT initiatives and increase systems performance, without losing control of their IT operations. Customers are able to view real-time systems performance information via a secure portal from any location, at any time. Current Sun Management Connection services include: Managed Operations Services, Managed Storage Services and Managed Security Services.

Sun Managed Storage Services gives customers customizable ways to outsource their biggest storage problems – from daily storage management, “on the fly” provisioning and data lifecycle reporting, to managing the entire Storage Area Network (SAN) infrastructure.

Availability

Sun Connection is scheduled to be available in the Fall. A base level of Sun Connection services will be delivered within existing service plans at no additional costs to Sun customers. Sun Update Connection is scheduled for general availability in May. Customers can pre-register for Sun Connection now at: www.sun.com/getconnected.

Sun is also offering the following special promotion: customers can get a free 30-day Sun Update Connection subscription, a free 60-day eLibrary subscription to the Sun Learning Center and a free T-shirt when they pre-register for Sun Connection and join the community of experts. More information on this limited time offer is available at http://www.sun.com/getconnected. Terms and conditions apply. More information on Sun Connection services is available at: http://www.sun.com/sunconnection.

Managed Operations Services and Managed Security Services from Sun Management Connection are available now. Managed Storage Services are scheduled to be available this Spring. More information on Sun Management Connect is available at: www.sun.com/managementconnection.

Sun’s NC05Q2 Web event is available at: http://www.sun.com/nc/05q2. More information on today’s announcements, including full Press Releases and product details, can be viewed at Sun’s online press kit: http://www.sun.com/aboutsun/media/presskits/networkcomputing05q2/.

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision — “The Network Is The Computer” — has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that make the Net work. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com


Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun Logo, Solaris, Java and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.