Sun Microsystems

Sun Microsystems – the world supplier of network solutions: servers, storage systems, the software and services, located in Santa Clara, California, in Silicon Valley. At the moment is in a stage of absorption by Oracle company for $7.4 billion. The corporation was founded in 1982 by Vinod Khosla and Andreas Bechtolsheim. Sun is an abbreviation of Stanford University Networks. Traditionally was one of the largest producers of servers and workstations based on RISC processors and Unix - the compatible systems.

The industries in which Sun works: telecommunications, media and entertainments, financial services, public institutions, education and scientific research, health care, Internet services, production, transport, power. The corporation performs the activity more than in 100 countries worldwide. Partners of the company are Intel, AMD, Microsoft, Fujitsu, Oracle, SAP, Google.

Performance Indicators

2008-2009 Net loss of SUN Microsystems according to the results of 2008-2009 financial years which came to the end on June 30 made $2.23 billion, against profit in the amount of $403 million the previous year. Revenue of the company according to the results of reporting period was reduced by 17.5% to $11.45 billion.

2007-2008

• turnover - $13.9 billion
• operating profit - $372 million
• net profit - $403 million (2008)

Merge to Oracle

The Oracle corporation officially announced on April 20, 2009 the conclusion of the final agreement about Sun acquisition. The cost of the transaction will be about $7.4 billion, or $5.6 billion taking into account Sun debts. According to the informed sources, originally IBM offered for Sun purchase $10-11 for an action or about $7.45-8.19 billion in case of 100 percent absorption. Then IBM lowered the offered amount to $6.70-7.45 billion or $9-10 for each stock Sun. At the beginning of April there was news about what the new offer of Sun also arranges, but in three days Sun refused further negotiations. In response to it IBM withdrew the offer. As a result Sun share value the next morning after an exit of news about a failure of the transaction dropped by 26%. Capitalization was reduced by $1.6 billion. The SUN Microsystems company has not the best times today. Net loss of Sun in the first half of the year 2008-2009 financial years which came to the end on December 28, 2008 made $1.89 billion against profit in the amount of $349 million for the same period the previous year. At the beginning of 2009 as BBC reports, the company namerevat to reduce 6 thousand employees.

Main activities of the company

Servers, Storage systems, Software, Service support.

Products

Computing systems, the software, storage systems and services allow to construct end-to-end IT infrastructure. Sun Microsystems renders assistance to clients who need the innovative solutions providing not only additional benefits, but also a low threshold of an input on the market of end-to-end corporate systems.

Servers

The SUN Microsystems company makes servers based on architecture of SPARC and x86.

Software

The most known and most widespread software package of SUN Microsystems company is the Java platform. Also Sun Microsystems is a producer of the Solaris operating system, StarOffice office suite, etc.

Sun in Russia

In July, 2010 it became known that the largest Russian distributors of SUN Microsystems can lose the status of her authorized partners. They are not able to perform the requirement buying this Oracle corporation — to undergo anti-corruption audit. It is fraught with deprivation of the discounts for the products Sun reaching 50% of retail price

The Oracle company and Sun Microsystems which she is going to purchase sent to five largest Russian partners — Croc, Verysell, OCS Distribution, Technoserv and Jet Infosystems — the letters ordering to provide the complete information about sales of the products Sun. About it Vedomosti was told by representatives of two large Russian IT companies which received such letters. Vedomosti also studied copies of these letters. Follows from them that the purpose of Oracle and Sun — to book audit of all transactions on sale of the equipment and software made by the Russian distributors. It is required to specify their amounts, profitability level, structure, buyers, etc. Sun proves these requirements, in particular, by regulations of the American antitrust law.

For non-execution of requirements Oracle threatens to deprive of the Russian distributors of the status of the authorized partners of Sun. At the same time they will lose special discounts for the products Sun, said in the copy of the letter of Oracle. 15-50% of the recommended retail price – such is the average size of the discounts provided to SUN Microsystems to the authorized partners the top manager of large Russian IT distributor speaks. And in some cases discounts can reach 70%.

But in many cases these requirements are impracticable, representatives of both Russian IT companies claim: with a number of clients (for example, with state structures) IT integrators and their clients sign confidentiality agreements. And disclosure of data, required Sun and Oracle, contradicts the law "About a Trade Secret", adds one of them. Technoserv would like to save partnership with Oracle and Sun, but it has no right to violate conditions of the contracts signed with customers, the representative Andrey Konyaev says it. Representatives of Croc, Verysell and Jet Infosystems did not provide official comments, it was not succeeded to contact OCS Distribution yesterday.

The representative of the Russian office Oracle Marina Savinova does not know of problems of the Russian partners. The vice president of Oracle in EMEA region Marcel van de Morten (signed the letter of Oracle) said that he is not authorized to comment on the relations of the company with the Russian partners. It was not succeeded to receive comments of the legal adviser of the Russian office Alexander Filatov (signed the letter of Sun) yesterday.

Participants of the Russian IT market find it difficult to assume why Sun and Oracle decided to book tough audit of a partner network right now. According to the representative of one of the IT companies, the American corporations went to it after a series of the corruption scandals connected with deliveries of the IT equipment to Russia. The latest such scandal took place in December of last year when law enforcement agencies of Germany showed to several former managers of Hewlett-Packard of charge of bribery to the Russian officials. Allegedly these bribes allowed the company to win the tender for equipment of the State Office of Public Prosecutor the computer equipment. Oracle always had information on buyers of its software products as those, buying software licenses, should be registered as users, the representative of the Russian distributor explains. And it is more difficult to trace a way of the equipment of Sun. As a result the Russian distributors will manage to reach compromise with Sun and Oracle, he hopes, but does not undertake to assume what can be conditions of such agreement.

History

Founders of the company - Vinod Khosla and Andreas Bechtolschejm