The announcement of Sun and Microsoft's expanded strategic alliance has many Sun loyalists questioning the move. Jonathan Schwartz answers the skeptics in his blog, pointing out the opportunities this agreement will bring to the company and its products, particularly Sun's virtualization, the Solaris Operating System (Solaris OS) and Sun's Systems portfolio.

Schwartz breaks down this Sun-Microsoft agreement into two key areas:

Mutual Certification

Microsoft will certify Windows running within Sun's Project Virginia, a soon-to-be-announced hypervisor platform. Sun will support Windows virtualization and allow Windows to support Solaris OS.

"This is a big deal for us," Schwartz declares, "and extends Sun's reach beyond Linux and Solaris into the Windows domain. Secondly, we'll reciprocate - and support Solaris via Windows virtualization."

Sun will become an OEM for Windows Server and support the Windows platform.

"We'll be bundling our Java runtime environment, our tool chain, and our Java Enterprise System middleware (and the OpenOffice suite for good measure) in the Windows we distribute. So customers and partners can now buy directly from Sun," he explains. "I've heard from a number of both since we signed this deal saying how excited they are - they can now consolidate a lot more business on Sun."

In his September 16th blog, Schwartz uses Sun's growth in the x64 server space as an example of how strategically aligning with other companies has pushed forth Sun's vision and products.

"...as recently as two years ago, Sun was a non-player in the x64 server space. Customers that wanted to run Solaris on non-Sun hardware couldn't, and those that wanted to buy x64 systems from Sun couldn't," he recalls. Then detailing the company's decision to build relationships with AMD and Intel, Schwartz states, "We're now the fifth largest x64 vendor in the marketplace - with a billion dollar annual runrate (as of our last reported quarter)."

For those who question whether this announcement with Microsoft signifies a strategic shift within the company, Schwartz affirms, "No - we can walk and chew gum at the same time. Running, virtualizing and supporting Windows opens doors."

Sun CTO and and EVP of Research and Development Greg Papadopoulos shared his thoughts on this recent announcement in his blog, explaining, "Microsoft matters because R&D matters." He continues, "Our mantra has been "product interop", because at the end of the day, that's what our mutual customers care about. Pragmatically, we will both continue to innovate in our own ways, and continue to strive for differentiated products in the marketplace."

For more on the September 12th Sun-Microsoft announcement see article [18624]. [...read more...]

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