The Sun is Shining Again

1999-04-16

SUN Microsystems, it would appear, can breathe again. SUN have never been unsuccessful, not in monetary terms; however in technological terms the last few years have been a little tense, to say the least.

Not so very long ago SUN was the provider of choice of Unix workstations and servers. The mainframe was dead, so it was assumed, and the lower end of the market consisted largely of PCs running MS-DOS. The workstation market was virtually sewn up, with users finding the term SUN as synonymous with workstation, as Hoover was to vacuum cleaner. Need to develop software? Use SUN. Need to run a CAD application? Use SUN. They had it made.

Things started to turn sour for SUN when Windows 3.1 was launched. Within months, the costs of workstation hardware and software seemed all too expensive relative to the apparent cheapness of a PC running Windows applications. IT managers, used to running PCs, saw cost savings and very quickly the de facto desktop became the PC. SUN were on the run.

Smaller companies might have buckled under the joint pressures of Intel and Microsoft, but somehow SUN have refused to let go. Recognising that the desktop battle was lost, Scott McNeally turned his full attention to the still lucrative server market. His timing was both fortuitous and impeccable: within months the World Wide Web had left the launch pad and a whole new, rapidly growing server market had been created.

SUN have not had it easy over the last couple of years but with equal measures of good luck and judgement they have transferred their brand. SUN is now the Internet server of choice: its alliance with AOL is ensuring a continuation to both its revenue stream and its reputation.

(First published 16 April 1999)