OEM Product Change Management

Product Change Notifications

Sun considers Product Change Notification (PCN) as a fundamental part of doing OEM business and is required to meet critical business needs of our OEM Partners.

The SunPCN process is a formal way to advise Sun's OEM customers of any Sun-approved Engineering Change Order (ECO) activity that impacts our products' "Form/Fit/Function" specifications or results in certain other changes that an OEM may need or desire to know about. Specifically, SunPCNs are OEM-ready documents that filter and distill relevant ECO information and clearly explain the change(s) in an OEM-focused manner. SunPCNs will answer key OEM questions, including:

• What parts are affected?
• Why did Sun implement this change?
• What are the technical and related details of the change?
• What, if any, OEM impact does the change have?
• Is any action required on the part of the OEM?
• When will the change take place?
• How can the OEM identify the changed part(s)?

Released Products: Product Transition Matrix

OEM's can typically buy a product on Sun's standard price list. However, such products may not meet the specific requirements demanded by an OEM or their customer. Thus, Sun has identified specific lifecycle support terms and conditions to offer to OEM customers to better meet their needs. Partners purchasing products from the OEM Product List are assured that Sun is committed to meeting the published OEM life cycle terms and conditions.

Sun's OEM partners use product roadmaps for their product migration planning. All OEM products have an associated 18 month rolling roadmap for the product, which is communicated to OEM customers quarterly by the Global Sun Sales and Services team under non-disclosure agreement. The roadmaps show new technology versus next generations of existing products as well as updates/upgrades to existing products (eg: processors, drives or memory). Planned end-of-life announcement dates, last order dates, last ship dates are detailed.

Sun's Product Transition Matrix (PTM) is a tool used by the Global Sun Sales and Services OEM Sales teams to assist Sun OEM partners with their product life cycle planning. Provided quarterly, the PTM provides ordering details at a part number level of important dates in product life cycles including: general availability, last order dates, last ship dates, end of life dates.