News
Sun Rebrands Software Products
Sun Microsystems Inc. is rebranding its major software products under the Sun Open Net Environment or Sun ONE name.
When Sun first introduced the Sun ONE initiative in February 2001,
it was widely regarded as the Unix powerhouse's answer to Microsoft
Corp's .NET initiative. Like .NET, Sun ONE uses the nascent XML
standard as a means for server- and client-side applications to
communicate with one another. Sun ONE differs from .NET in one
major respect -- it uses the Java development
platform.
Microsoft promotes its competing C# as the main development language for .NET, but Microsoft supports a raft of third-party languages as well. Java support in .NET is glaringly absent.
Sun announced this week that it would consolidate many of its
software brands, including the iPlanet application server and the
StarOffice productivity suite, under the Sun ONE brand name to
raise awareness of Sun's software products. The announcement
coincides with a new print and broadcast media campaign promoting
the Sun ONE initiative.
"It made sense to coalesce all these brands under the Sun ONE
brand," says Sanjay Sarathy, director of product marketing for
developer enablement for Sun ONE. He believes it will simplify
brand awareness among technologists and other, who may have been
confused with different product lines such as iPlanet and Forte.
One reason Sun was able to consolidate its major brands,
according to Sarathy, is that its cross-licensing agreement with
AOL-Time Warner expired, leaving the product solely in Sun's
hands. With no ties binding the product, the company is now free
to call it whatever it wants. The iPlanet Web Server is now the
Sun ONE Web Server, the iPlanet Portal Server is now Sun ONE
Portal Server, and the iPlanet Application Server is now Sun ONE
Application Server.
The application server in particular could use more exposure.
Although Sun developed the J2EE standard, which is quickly
becoming the standard for middleware, Sun's own application
server lags in the market. BEA and IBM lead the market, while Sun,
Oracle, and HP's Bluestone division battle it out for third
place.
Microsoft's aggressive promotion of .NET on TV and in print has
established it in the minds of many as a one-stop-shop for
enterprise integration. The Sun ONE name may provide a similar
idea for Sun's previously disparate software products. "Part of
the compelling story behind Sun ONE... is it provides an overall
platform for integration," Sarathy says.
Other products rebranded this week include the Forte IDE, the
ChiliSoft ASP software, and the StarOffice Office Suite. Forte
becomes Sun ONE Studio, ChiliSoft becomes Sun ONE Active Server
Pages, and StarOffice will be branded under the Sun ONE name.