Sun Microsystems, Inc today announced general availability and widespread acceptance of the Sun Java Enterprise System by more than 150 partner and customers.
The Java Enterprise System serves as the strategic underpinning of Sun's software strategy and provides an integrated, open, standards-based software system that delivers a core set of industry-leading shared enterprise network services that every business needs. In addition, Sun announced the following:
* Special pricing for independent software vendors (ISVs) and embedded original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for Java Enterprise System. Priced at $1 000 per processor, Sun's pricing methodology for embedded ISVs is less expensive than that of its major competitors.
* Sun will make Java Enterprise System available, free of charge, to small companies with less than 100 employees. These companies can also purchase support and maintenance contracts.
* Sun plans to make Java Enterprise System available on additional operating system platforms. Presently available on the Solaris SPARC and Solaris x86 platforms, Java Enterprise System is planned to be supported on Linux and other platforms within calendar year 2004.
* Connector support: Sun and its iForce Partners - Attachmate, Insevo and iWay Software, are delivering best-in-class Java technology connectors based on the latest Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition (J2EE) Connector Architecture specifications. These connectors enable customers of the Java Enterprise System to deploy their applications in heterogeneous IT environments and rapidly connect their Java applications to various backend Enterprise Information Systems, including SAP and PeopleSoft, legacy mainframe applications such as CICS, and industry-specific technologies such as HIPAA and HL7. These connectors are supported on the Sun Java System Application Server platform.
"We've seen great success and acceptance from large enterprises for Java Enterprise System and have worked closely with ISVs, OEMs and educational institutions to ensure our pricing model mirrors exactly what they're looking for," said Jonathan Schwartz, executive vice-president, Software, Sun Microsystems, Inc. "Customers, partners, ISVs and OEMs are saying to us, loud-and-clear, that Sun offers the best value for software over anyone in the industry. And, coming soon, we'll be working with e-governments to accelerate the development of per-citizen pricing for those organisations worldwide."
Widespread acceptance: Customers and partners
Sun is experiencing strong customer support for the Java Enterprise System from a range of early customers, including Athens International Airport, Advocate Health Care, SaskTel and World Book, Inc, among others. For customers, this innovative approach to software delivery is designed to reduce integration costs and improve return on investment.
"Athens International Airport's requirement for Java Enterprise System is to interface with existing applications and provide single sign-on through the airport portal server. Java Enterprise System provides simplicity, predictability and availability in one installation," said Karonis Fotis, information technology and telecommunications director, Athens International Airport.
"Sun has taken another step in the right direction with the Java Enterprise System. Consistent, regular delivery of Sun's enterprise infrastructure software will help SaskTel deliver reliable, innovative, easy-to-use services to our customers," said Curt Smith, General Manager, Managed Information Services, SaskTel.
"The Java Enterprise System enables us to deploy more functionality to our online services faster, and spend less time upgrading and testing software and more time enhancing and introducing new customer service offerings," said Tim Hardy, CIO at World Book, Inc. "We expect to save 50% to 75% over our previous standard per-processor pricing model for Sun software. This will dramatically reduce our software acquisition costs and provide a predictable IT cost structure under which to manage our growing business."
In addition, over 150 infrastructure and business application technology leaders and partners have committed to building and distributing Java Enterprise System-based products and solutions. These technology leaders include Appium, Attachmate, Bonsai Networks, Context Media, Entrust, FairIsaac Corporation, Fatwire, FileNet, i2, Insevo, iWay, Kabira, Kadiri, M7, RSA Security, SCT, Sonic, Stellent, Vignette and Vitria. For partners, it enables new revenue opportunities to support a new generation of customer solutions.
"Sun has made major strides in simplifying customer's lives with the Java Enterprise System. The low price point and pre-integration will allow organisations to realise tremendous cost and time savings," said James Rothstein, senior vice-president, Strategic Alliances, FatWire. "And by bundling FatWire's portal content management system with Java Enterprise System, Sun extends the power of the offering to the user community by providing a simple business user interface that enables adoption across the enterprise for increased ROI."
"Vignette's decision to integrate its Vignette V7 content management solutions with the Java System Directory Server will help us offer our customers increased choice among industry-leading technologies without having to increase our R&D spend," said Swamy Viswanathan, vice-president of information and integration management products at Vignette. "Vignette sees an expanded opportunity for our customers to realise cost savings by eliminating integration time between the products, thus helping to reinforce Vignette's reputation as a technology value leader and trusted advisor. We look forward to continuing our work with Sun to lower the overall total cost of ownership for our joint customers."
More information for partners about the Sun Java Enterprise System is available online at http://www.sun.com/partners/javaenterprisesystem/.
Pricing and availability
The Java Enterprise System is scheduled to be available by the end of the calendar year directly through Sun and Sun iForce partners. Free evaluation for 90 days is available for the Java Enterprise System or any of its component products. Sun also offers a no hassle automatic term renewal each year based on the current number of employees.
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