http://www.computerworld.com.au/inde...8;fp;16;fpid;0

Sun's software chief eyes databases, groupware
Rodney Gedda

05/10/2005 12:55:58

Having established its subscription-based software strategy for client
and server infrastructure, Sun Microsystems is looking to extend the
portfolio to take on the database and groupware markets, according to
John Loiacono, executive vice president of software.

In a three-day visit to Australia to brief customers on the company's
software strategy, Loiacono said there is an underserved niche in the
database market.

"If you look at the spectrum of databases, at the high end you have two
companies - Oracle and IBM [and] MySQL ain't even near those guys,"
Loiacono said. "You've got MySQL, PostgreSQL, and things like
Cloudscape and Derby. People in the high-end space are saying they just
can't afford the licensing fees they are charging [and] even Microsoft
SQL is not dirt cheap."

Loiacono said that, because customers are asking what else is out
there, Sun is taking a serious look at solving that problem by
addressing some of the need in that space.

"We're not going to OEM Microsoft but we are looking at PostgreSQL
right now," he said, adding that over time the database will become
integrated into the operating system.

Although not prepared to reveal what Sun's software business is,
Loiacono did say it was growing rapidly with about one million
subscribers at $140 per employee per year as a result of the recent
General Motors contract which saw more than 300,000 subscriptions
added.

Telstra is also a Sun software customer with some 36,000 subscriptions.


One thing Sun isn't short of in the software market is opportunity if
the more than 700 million mobile handsets running Java result in more
Java Enterprise System subscriptions and Sun servers being sold at the
backend.

Java Enterprise System is the stack of middleware required by carriers
and content provider to deliver services for the consumer and business
markets. It includes directory, messaging, identity management, and now
business integration services resulting from the SeeBeyond acquisition.


"If I'm a telecommunications company, I'm terrified of Microsoft,"
Loiacono said. "Why? Because it is getting into my business. Our point
is that we're not in that business, we're an infrastructure provider.
We're not in the content business."

Regarding the corporate messaging and groupware space, Loiacono said
there are two parts to it - one for the client side and one for the
backend.

"On the backend we are very much a player [and] our business is doing
quite well in that space," he said. "We just did a several million
mailbox replacement of Exchange at Verizon to our platform, JES
messaging server. When you talk about the client side, the enterprise
is really hard to penetrate. If you don't talk Outlook, you're in
trouble."

Loiacono said with the Firefox Web browser, Thunderbird mail client,
and Sunbird calendar in that space, Sun is "getting behind" the Sunbird
product.

Because of the number of calendar solutions already available, Loiacono
said Sun would rather support Sunbird than build its own.