Q & A
Sun Grid and its impact on the emerging concept of
utility computing
Q & A with Robert Youngjohns, Executive Vice President, Strategic Development and Sun Financing
We talked to Robert about the introduction of the Sun Grid and its impact
on the emerging concept of utility computing. Read more about Robert's
thoughts on grid and utility computing, and learn how customers
can benefit from Sun's latest offering.
What is Sun introducing today?
Twenty-four years ago, while the IT industry was in the very early
stages of putting personal computers on every desktop, Sun Microsystems
immediately made its mark on the strength of a bold vision-- the network
is the computer. Sun has been evolving that core vision ever since.
Today's launch marks the highest expression of Sun's network computing
vision. The new era of network computing is designed to radically
simplify the business of selecting, acquiring and using IT
infrastructure.
Along with an extension of network computing, we are delivering radical
simplification, and making it more affordable and efficient. Sun is
solving the most vexing and complex IT challenges by helping more
customers easily tap into the power of the network, which we underscore
today with the launch of the Sun Grid. Just as the PC made rudimentary
computing accessible to millions of individuals, Sun's relentless
innovation is taking the immense power of network computing -
military-grade security, enterprise-class capabilities - and making it
much more broadly available to business customers.
Why is this significant to the industry?
With the launch of Sun Grid, Sun is making available the industry's
first real utility offerings. Sun is ushering in the democratization of
network computing, expanding access to network computing and making it
radically simpler. Sun is delivering on the fruits of technology
innovation, to be sure: no company has a deeper history in network
computing. Equally important, Sun also is driving parallel innovation
in engagement models with customers and how customers will tap into the
grid and pay for that access. What Apple, IBM and Compaq did to
advance the PC revolution, Sun is now doing in network computing--
enfranchising large numbers of new business customers. The economic
impact will again be profound, creating significant competitive
advantage for the savvy adopters who seize the day. IT will matter - a lot.
What is Sun actually announcing?
Sun today is launching the Sun Grid, a comprehensive IT framework that
delivers easy access to $1/cpu-hr on tap. Just pay for what you use. Sun
has powered up facilities in Texas, Virginia, New Jersey and London, and
we have just begun. We're innovating through new technologies and
business models to lead the industry in pay-for-use computing and $1 per
gigabite per month for storage. We've got great momentum with partners
like TELUS, and pilot programs with top global companies. Our customers
today think they spend anywhere from $6 to $16 per hour, which is as
much as 1/10th of standard computing costs. This is going to change the
way IT is bought and managed, and it will be available within the next
30 days.
Sun has also executed a fundamental re-alignment of its sales
organization and customer engagement model. The new Client Solutions
organization focuses world-class expertise and Sun systems, software and
services capabilities into six specific practices, addressing today's
hottest pain points.
Sun is further simplifying how customers access and pay for network
computing capabilities. The vanguard pricing model of Java Enterprise
System, introduced last year, is now even simpler and more flexible.
For customers who prefer to use only parts of the Java Enterprise
System package, Sun has introduced five Java Enterprise System Suites
priced at just $50 per employee. Now some of the really popular
elements of the system, such as identity management, can be purchased
as discrete software components or as part of the larger Java Enterprise
System.
Sun is architecting both its technology and its business organization to
make subscription-based pricing easy and sensible for customers. For
example, Sun is announcing today subscription-based service plans for
Solaris 10, the world's most advanced operating system. Launched last
quarter, Solaris 10 already has significant momentum, achieving rapid
market acceptance with some 740,000 customer downloads to date.
Sun is taking network management to a new level with Sun Preventive
Services and Managed Services. Both are comprehensive
subscription-based services, one aimed at early detection, mitigation
and management of risk in the network, the other aimed at delivering
optimal network performance, application management and resource
utilization.
Why is this interesting and relevant to customers?
Today more than ever, customers are depending on efficient, globally
linked network ecosystems to operate with their own customers, suppliers
and business partners. The need for mobility with security is a key
enabler of competitive advantage for today's savvy companies.
Sun is on a mission to change the rules of network computing, driving
down the costs of systems and software, making sophisticated software
capability affordable and easier to access, improving network security
and the business contribution of the IT infrastructure. No other
company is doing more to make business-class utility offerings as
broadly accessible and reliable as Sun Microsystems.
How does Sun stack up competitively?
The next-generation data center is not a pipedream, but a reality with
Sun. We have documented the top 10 principles that identify, very clearly, the
guidelines CIOs should follow in order to transform their traditional
data centers into highly efficient, service optimized data centers.
What does today's launch signify for Sun?
First, Sun is clearly back on the offense, setting a bold agenda with
customer requirements as the prime focus. Sun is executing its strategy
of extending the reach of network computing, simplifying access by
creating new modes for customers to tap into the immense power of the
network grid. Sun's unwavering commitment to R&D innovation is bearing
huge returns with Solaris 10, the industry's most advanced operating
system launched last quarter to highly positive market response;
continued rapid increases in customer adoption of the Java Enterprise
System -- we have sold over 400,000 seats in the year since we've
shipped -- and significant contributions of source code and Sun patents
to the open source community.
Second, Sun has the strongest product line in its history, from the
low-cost to the highest-performing systems. Sun's engineering
innovations being matched with bold new thinking on software pricing,
easy access to utility offerings, and customer engagement models that
are designed to solve the most vexing IT problems faced by business
customers today.
Third, the experience of the last couple of quarters suggests very
plainly that customers are embracing the new solutions from Sun. Grid
computing is "incremental" revenue for Sun and gives us an opportunity
to go after new customers. Sun is gaining traction, winning new
customers and is on the offensive again.
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Robert Youngjohns, Executive Vice President, Strategic Development and Sun Financing
