Sun Extends its Sun Grid Services

During its quarterly Network Computing '05(NC05Q2) launch today, Sun Microsystems, Inc. (sun.com) announced Sun Connection http://www.sun.com/sunconnection/ , the first of many services to be delivered as part of the company's Sun(TM) Grid model. Built on the Solaris(TM) 10 Operating System (OS), the always-on Sun Connection program joins Sun's compute ($1/cpu-hr) and storage ($1/GB-mo) offerings as services that extend Sun's grid strategy.

"Today Sun is providing customers with smarter technology options, more control over their data centers and the ability to maximize economies of scale throughout their IT infrastructure," said Scott McNealy, chairman and CEO of Sun.

"CIOs no longer need to hand over the keys to their kingdom to services behemoths, because the power to run their business is back in their own hands. With the combined muscle of our new Sun Connection Services and the Solaris 10 OS, we're offering to take responsibility for security updates and systems monitoring for our enterprise and public sector customers. Sun's product and service offerings are solving problems for everyone, from the IT manager to the CIO, by allowing them to move from a customized data center model, to a standardized model, and eventually to a true utility model in the data center."

Currently, Sun has eight major Sun Grid proof-of-concepts underway and dozens of similar engagements across large enterprise customers in industries including: financial services, oil and gas, life sciences and entertainment.

Continuing to change the playing field with new business models, Sun also introduced Sun Java(TM) StorEdge(TM) Software, a new storage subscription offering that removes the complexity of licensing storage software and support services.

"For the past eight years, eBay has consistently turned to Sun for technology leadership," said Tom Keeven, vice president of operations and infrastructure, eBay. "

Washington D.C. provided the backdrop for Sun's NC05Q2 product launch event and helped to highlight its ongoing commitment to global governments and longer-range strategic design work in the U.S.

According to forecasts issued by IDC in April 2005, the U.S. government's technology spending will continue to grow steadily, increasing from approximately $43 billion in 2004 to nearly $52 billion by 2007.