Sun Announces New and Enhanced Service Offerings for the Data Center; Service Solutions Increase Availability, Give Data Center Customers a Strategy for the Future

Business Wire, Feb 17, 1999

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 17, 1999--To meet the high demand for building and managing an efficient data center, Sun Microsystems, Inc. today announced an expanded suite of services designed to support customers who want to implement and manage a high performance data center. Sun's data center service offerings deliver professional services, support and educational expertise with the goal of providing optimal performance and effective interaction with a customer's networked enterprise IT environment.

"Our customers have high expectations around their data center servers," says Larry Hambly, president of Enterprise Services. "We're driving quality process and high availability to meet their requirements."

To broaden its portfolio of managed service offerings, Sun is announcing the following three new services:

-- New On-Site Services

These new on-site support services are part of the industry-leading, SunSpectrum(SM) suite of service offerings. Proven mission-critical installation services are also available to Data Center customers who need to get their mission-critical environments running at maximum performance levels quickly.

-- On-Site Support

Sun's new on-site services enable more timely problem resolution by having on-site Sun engineers who have extensive knowledge of the customer site and familiarity with the operating environment.

-- On-Site Spares

On-site spares inventory can be managed to reduce replacement time that may affect availability.

New Sun Enterprise Server Implementation Services for the E10000 SunTM server implementation services include designing, developing and deploying a full, application-ready, distributed computing platform and integrating it into the customer's existing IT infrastructure. With this service, customers can start realizing the business benefits of their new servers quickly. Sun's consultants also transfer valuable operational and strategic knowledge to the customer team so they can operate their systems successfully. Customers also have immediate access to Sun support professionals with expertise in mission-critical and business-critical deployments.

New ServerStart(SM) for the E10000

Under the ServerStart(SM) program for the E10000 , Sun experts install, configure and optimize a data center system in a high availability environment. The new service includes systems administrator training and preparation for the new environment, and attention to issues like configuration of storage systems, network printing services and performance monitoring tools. An analysis addressing post-installation management issues may also be included. Sun is also announcing new or expanded services to complement its offerings for the data center:

Expanded SunVIP(SM) Program Now Includes DB2 and JD Edwards

IBM and JD Edwards have joined SunVIP (Sun Vendor Integration Program). Designed to speed problem resolution through technical collaboration, the new SunVIP relationships target customers using IBM's DB2 Universal Database software, or JD Edwards OneWorld enterprise software, with the Sun Solaris Operating Environment(TM) software. As members of the SunVIP program, these companies' technical support engineers will work closely with Sun's engineers to increase application availability. Customers can now call either Sun or the software provider when they encounter a difficult software problem, and can rely on technical cooperation between engineers at both companies to get them up and running quickly. the SunVIP program is a feature of SunSpectrum Gold(SM) and SunSpectrum Platinum(SM) service offerings.

New Server Consolidation Services

Sun Server Consolidation Services provide the capabilities necessary to help companies identify the financial, operational, technical and organizational benefits of server consolidation. Consolidating applications onto a few large servers that offer scalability and more efficient management can reduce the total cost of ownership for a customer's IT environment. Sun's consultants assist customers in all phases of a server consolidation project, from evaluating the business case to designing and implementing the consolidated architecture. They conduct a feasibility study and provide an assessment of readiness for server consolidation. They also define the consolidated system and network architecture, and provide a migration plan for implementation.

Expanded Education Consulting for High Availability

To manage the development of an effective IT organization that can support a high-availability environment, Sun is offering a newly expanded suite of education consulting services, including an online skills assessment, to meet the "people" requirements of any IT change program. With the help of education consultants worldwide, Sun Microsystems provides services in three key areas: IT Skills Management, IT Organizational Structure, and IT Resourcing Strategy. Sun will also continue to offer customized training and certification services to data center customers.

Service Availability