iForce Competency Centers

Your single source of collaborative solutions.

You know the feeling. That mixture of stress, anxiety, and dread that comes with implementing a new business solution. The complexities. The tight timeframes. The costs. The risks. You'll experience a completely different sensation at the iForce Centers, part of the global iForce Center network. It's called peace of mind.

At the centers, you can try out your concepts, size your systems, test performance and scalability, and see working prototypes on Sun's equipment—all at no charge. You can leverage the combined expertise of Sun specialists and our dynamic community of third-party vendors and systems integrators. You can take the guesswork out of implementing your software-driven solutions. Simply put, you can simplify your life - without limiting your options. The result: you can go from the drawing board to production faster, can reduce risk and complexity along the way, and get the results (and the sleep) you need. Seamless integration.

The iForce Centers bring together the right products and the right partners - so you can get it right the first time.

Sun's iForce Initiative is about collaboration and cooperation among the best and brightest in the industry. And the iForce Centers are the focal point of Sun's collaborative model. It's all here for you: millions of dollars worth of state-of-the-art Sun systems, software from leading independent solution providers, and the expertise of world-class architects, solution providers, and systems integrators—all focused on your project, your success.

Sun's collaborative model can offer the same level of simplicity as the proprietary model other vendors offer—but with the opportunity to lower risk. The cross-pollination that occurs among vendors at the iForce Centers can bring you a quality solution which can help reduce the risk and complexity of implementing it. And Sun can offer you access to better products and technologies, a wider range of options, and more complete, future-ready solutions.

The shortest distance between concepts and results.

The iForce Centers deliver a complete range of services tailored to your specific needs—often using the exact configuration you plan to use and even your actual data, not a one-size-fits-all demo. Here are just a few of the things the centers can do for you:

• Brainstorming: We'll help you think through the business and technical issues of everything from designing your architecture to deploying your production servers.
• Assessments: Consultants will evaluate your business processes and identify areas for improvement.
• Solution Demonstrations: A complete array of hardware and software products is ready for a custom demo.
• Proof-of-Concepts: We can prototype a business solution matched to your unique business needs in a matter of days or weeks, not months—so you can find out what works right away.
• Sizing and Tuning: We'll spec out the optimal configuration of hardware and software, in the right increments, to serve your business.
• Training: We can prepare workshops to help you and your staff work on specific issues or arrange for you to attend a Sun or partner training session.

In addition, the iForce Centers give you access to the latest Sun Reference Architectures, SunTone Reference Configurations, Sun Blueprints, and pre-integrated, pre-tested iForce Solutions which can speed your timeto-implementation, can reduce your risk, and help cut development costs. For up-to-date lists, please see www.sun.com/iforce.

We're there for you. And there.
And there too.

Sun's iForce Ready Centers are about more than simplicity, more than fast time-toservice, more than best-of-breed technology. They're about helping to eliminate risk. You'll see our obsessive attention to minimizing your risk and maximizing your ROI in everything we do. Here are the three cornerstones of our risk reduction strategy:

• Sun's Collaborative Model. Avoid vendor lock-in; leverage the expertise of a dynamic community; benefit from the vendor crosspollination and seamless integration that can lead to greater innovation.
• iForce Center Network. Try before you buy; size and tune your configuration before you deploy; harness industry best practices for higher quality; get it right the first time.
• Sun Product and Technology Leadership. Eliminate complexity with Sun's scalable, powerful Solaris Operating Environment platform; take advantage of our integrated solutions and reference architectures; build to the Sun Open Net Environment (Sun ONE) standards for increased agility; certify software vendor offerings through the SunTone program; simplify customer support through the Sun Vendor Integration Program (SunVIP); leverage our comprehensive investment protection offerings; and harness our world-class consulting, education, and support capabilities.

Key benefits.

• Simplicity. The centers provide a focal point for all the products, technologies, and vendors involved in creating the optimal software-driven solution.
• Reduced risk. Collaboration between Sun and best-of-breed partners helps you get it right the first time and help eliminate risk.
• Faster time-to-implementation. You'll find out what works right away, so you avoid lengthy development cycles and get into production faster.
• Lower development costs. Try out your concept on state-of-the-art Sun hardware and software, and save the cost of the infrastructure for testing on your own.

Highlights

Locations

• Menlo Park, CA, USA
• Paris, France
• Tokyo, Japan

Key Business Solutions

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
• Supply Chain Management (SCM)
• Portals
• Decision Support
• Data Warehousing
• Mail and Messaging

Key Technical Resources On-Site

• Sun Enterprise servers
• Sun Fire servers
• Sun Cobalt appliance servers
• Sun Ray desktops
• Sun StorEdge arrays
• Solaris Operating Environment
• UltraSPARC processors
• iPlanet e-business software
• Java™ 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE™)
• Third-party applications

Key ISV Products on Site

• Oracle
• SAP
• Siebel
• PeopleSoft
• i2

Key Vertical Solutions

• Healthcare
• Energy
• Retail
• Government Benefits
• Single source of collaborative solutions
• Faster time-to-implementation
• Reduced risk through strength of community
• Lower development costs

We're with you all the way.

Wherever you are on your road to successful deployment of your business software, iForce Centers will help you take the next step quickly, correctly, and cost-efficiently.

So when you're ready to minimize the complexity, risk, timeframes, and costs of your business solutions, call your Sun sales representative, who will help you make the arrangements and accompany you on your initial visit. Additional details about the iForce Centers are also available on our Web site at www.sun.com/iforce.

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