SUN'S AUTHORIZED PARTNERS CAN NOW PARTICIPATE IN AUCTIONSSUN'S AUTHORIZED PARTNERS CAN NOW PARTICIPATE IN AUCTIONSPALO ALTO, CA -- July 18, 2000 -- Sun Microsystems, Inc. today expanded its online auction pilot to include its U.S. iForce Providers, which include eIntegrators, OEMs, systems integrators and VARS. This move, one of the first of its kind in the industry, will enable iForce Providers to take advantage of the increased buying flexibility offered by online auctions. Sun began offering its products through auctions on eBay, Mercata and TekSell.com, just six months ago, and to date, more than 50 percent of customers to purchase products through Sun auctions are new to the company. The auction program has enabled Sun to further its reach to emerging small and medium-sized businesses, a market not fully tapped by Sun's direct sales force or iForce Providers. "Online auctions are a new avenue for incremental business for Sun and our partners," said Alex Rublowsky, group manager for Sun's auction program office. "With today's announcement, we invite our iForce Providers to take advantage of this new option to procure hardware for resale." Sun's iForce Providers will have three sites from which to choose: eBay, the world's largest online trading site; Mercata, a provider of hosted group buying services; and TekSell.com, a leading B2B auction of high-end IT equipment. Sun iForce Providers and end-users can visit www.sun.com/auctions to gain access to the three companies' Web sites. "Sun has launched an aggressive strategy for extending their reach in the market. By offering multiple purchasing vehicles -- two-tier distribution, eSun and auctions -- to both the end-user customer as well as authorized providers, they have insured that the value proposition of their providers will be fully realized," stated Anna McDermott vice president of marketing, Sun Business Group, GE Access. "As a Sun Channel Development Provider, we understand the benefit of Sun's strategy and the opportunities with penetration into new customer markets." For example, a dot-com or start-up company may want to purchase new Sun equipment, but not have the IT staff to install, integrate and support the systems in-house. Since the value-added services of a iForce Provider are not sold via auctions, when requested, Sun iForce Providers can step in to deliver a complete range of services including the ability to set up the equipment, integrate it with any existing solutions and be on hand for support when and if the need arises. "We're very pleased that, as part of our ongoing relationship, Sun has decided to bring its iForce Providers to eBay, said Jeff Jordan, senior vice president and general manager of eBay US. "As we have seen in our Business Exchange marketplace, eBay's flexibility and convenience can help streamline business-to-business transactions, and we hope more companies will follow Sun's lead." About Sun Microsystems, Inc.Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision - The Network Is The Computer - has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW), to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that power the Internet and allow companies worldwide to dot-com their businesses. With $14.2 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 170 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com.
Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo and "The Network Is The Computer" are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.PR Contacts for Press and Analysts:
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