Partner Business Models in the Sun Partner Advantage Program
The Sun Partner Advantage Program is based on progressive membership levels and addresses a wide range of partner engagement models. The Program is highly flexible and offers partners many choices for investment based on their business needs.
Independent Software Vendors (and other companies such as SIs, ASPs, Web Developers, etc.)
Creates and/or sells software for specific markets such as industry or a horizontal solutions. Examples include, but are not limited to: Financial Services, Healthcare, Business Intelligence, or Enterprise Resource Planning among many others. These applications can be sold as a service, as shrink-wrapped software, through licensing and/or as an integrated solution that sometimes includes hardware and services. Learn More about the Sun Partner Advantage Program, for ISVs
Note: The program is also open to the following types of software technology partners who create and distribute products, libraries and/or services that deploy on a Sun technology.
Global Solution Providers (GSPs)
System Integrators (SIs)
Value Added Indegrators (VAIs)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
Application Service Providers (ASPs) including Software as a Service
Network Service Providers (NSPs) Including Hosting Services
Portal and Web Application Developers
Consultants
Trainers
Web Designers
Channel Partners
Sun's channel partners are authorized to sell solutions that utilize Sun products and services. Solutions can range from a simple sale via a telemarketing sales model to a highly complex sale involving integration and pre and post-sale customer support. Learn More about Sun's programs for channel partners
Application Provider
Direct Marketer
Registered Reseller
Service Provider
Systems Integrators
Value-Added Reseller
Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM)
An entity authorized by Sun (as evidenced by a written contract) to purchase or license Sun Products as an original equipment manufacturer and to include those Sun Products as an integral part of OEM Products. Learn More about the OEM program
Embedded OEM
Attached OEM
OTP or OEM Technology Provider
Partner Type Definitions
The following are common definitions of partner types used by Sun and the Sun Partner Advantage Program. Specific partner type names may vary by region and partner types names are subject to change. Also, several partner types are eligible to join the Sun Partner Advantage Program as partners who create technology, or as reselling partners.
Creates software applications for specific vertical or horizontal markets and deliver these to customers as an integrated solution that includes the software application, the hardware and services.
An OEM that sells products or solutions that (i) are attached to OEM systems, operating systems or platforms, (ii) require OEM hardware or software to attach to or integrate with Sun Products, and (iii) require interoperability testing or certification that is typically not performed by Sun.
Primary business model is to sell a comprehensive range of lower end computer and networking products and equipment via the telephone and over the internet. Heavy focus below Fortune 500.
An OEM that sells OEM products or solutions that (i) include and are based on OEM's hardware or software, (ii) permanently incorporates or embeds Sun hardware and may include Sun software, and (iii) has substantially different functional characteristics from any products, solution, or technologies offered by Sun.
Creates and/or sells software for specific markets such as industry and/or a horizontal solutions. Examples include, but are not limited to: Financial Services, Healthcare, Business Intelligence, or Enterprise Resource Planning among many others. These applications can be sold as a service, as shrink-wrapped software, through licensing and/or as an integrated solution that sometimes includes hardware and services.
Sells bandwidth or network access by providing direct backbone access to the internet. NSPs may consist of telecommunications companies, data carriers, wireless communications providers, and internet service or hosting providers offering high-speed Internet access.
An entity authorized by Sun (as evidenced by a written contract) to purchase or license Sun Products as an original equipment manufacturer and to include those Sun Products as an integral part of OEM Products.
An OEM that sells OEM products or solutions that include and are based on OEM's hardware or software or are developed as a result of the OEM's unique expertise in a particular industry or market and include Sun Products. (At Sun's discretion, the OTP may jointly go to market with Sun's sales organization if it complies with Sun's training and certification requirements and provides timely point of sales reports to Sun.)
Develops web sites for the world-wide-web or for intranets. These include e-commerce
business development, web design services, client-side/server side coding and web server configuration.
Delivers commercially available network services to the general public over a network, typically the Internet. Services and products include hardware, software, datacenter, labor, and intellectual property. This category includes Application Service Providers (ASPs), Software as a Service providers (SaaS), Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and Storage Service Providers (SSP).
Systems Integrator/Value-Added Integrator (SI/VAI)
Provides business consulting, outsourcing services and/or custom software applications typically to Fortune 250 enterprises and may also resell Sun solutions, and sometimes services.
Primary business model is to sell and supply value added services such as architecture planning, technical design, implementation, deployment and/or post-sales support services for Sun and 3rd party hardware and software solutions.
