Scarlet Pruitt of IDG News Service reports that Sun Microsystems hopes to exploit the market among the ten European Union accession countries planning to join the EU within the next year.

According to Elie Simon, president of Sun for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), "In Western Europe what we see is that innovation is back, led by systems for delivering mobile services."

Pruitt suggests that Sun's capabilities in the areas of mobility, gaming, retail and identity management position the company well for the anticipated market demands in EMEA.

The nature of doing business in the EU is also changing, Pruitt points out, noting the expectation among buyers that corporations will make substantial cash outlays and long-term commitments to the success of individual projects in order to attract business.

Well aware of the departure from "business as usual," Simon observes that, "This is a new way for IT companies to operate. You have to put lots of money on the table."

In pursuit of e-government, healthcare and financial services business, Sun is developing relationships with the banking industry. According to Simon, "We are negotiating with a giant American bank to go after exclusive partnerships with governments in the region." While Simon would not identify the banking partner Sun is courting, he did indicate that news of the alliance should be available within a month or two.

As Pruitt sees it, Sun's open standards push and new Linux software offerings dovetail nicely with the EU enlargement opportunities. She said the EU should find the new JavaTM Enterprise System and the JavaTM Desktop System very attractive in meeting their IT growth needs.

This is Simon's view also, Pruitt reports, given the sensitivity to price and the need for rapid capitalization among the EU accession countries. He suggests these factors should work to make the EU nations early adopters of open source.

"These (EU accession) countries are prepared to take risks because they know they can leapfrog other European countries to offer access and deliver services to their people," Simon said. [...read more...]

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