365 Customers and Leading Systems Integrators Demonstrate Alliance Products
Have Market Momentum with Service Providers
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Oct. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The Sun-Netscape Alliance
(Alliance), a provider of e-commerce and infrastructure software solutions,
today announced that in its first six months in operation it has achieved its
stated goal of being one of the leading providers of Internet business
applications to service providers around the world.
To support this claim the company cited its key accomplishments: a rich
product portfolio, relationships with leading systems integrators such as
American Management Systems (AMS), AnswerThink, and Cap Gemini, and an
international customer base of 365 service providers in 45 countries.
According to market research firm IDC, the Alliance was the largest
supplier of applications to the worldwide Internet commerce market in 1998,
based on revenue.
"Service providers are already 40 percent of Alliance customer revenue,
the largest single segment. With more than 60 million seats sold, Alliance
messaging products are number one among service providers," said Korak Mitra,
vice president, messaging and collaboration group for the Sun-Netscape
Alliance. He added that in the United States, eight of the 10 largest Fortune
500 telecommunications companies use Alliance software.
Service providers and network equipment providers are leveraging Alliance
software solutions to build dynamic net marketplaces. Some of the service
providers and network equipment providers who have announced they are
developing new Internet and web-based services, both wireless and wireline,
using software solutions from the Alliance are:
Bell Atlantic Cable & Wireless HKT Cisco Digex
France Telecom Global Crossing GTE
Interpath Lucent Premier
Sasktel Telefonica
iPlanet(TM) Products Launched at Internet Speed
In the six months since its establishment, the Alliance has introduced a
wide-ranging family of e-commerce applications and Internet infrastructure
software for service providers. The Alliance iPlanet(TM) product portfolio
provides basic services such as encrypted remote access and universal
messaging as well as strategic Internet procurement, bill presentment, and
customer self-service. Service providers can integrate Alliance products into
advanced offerings that support online communities with customers, suppliers,
and business partners.
Market research firm IDC points out how this product strategy supports a
rapidly changing market. "Service providers are adopting many different
strategies to exploit Internet business opportunities. The Alliance product
set can be deployed rapidly in different sequences and in different
combinations to support each service provider's business model for the Net
Economy," said Mark Winther, group vice president at IDC.
About the Sun-Netscape Alliance
America Online, Inc. (NYSE: AOL) and Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW)
formed the Sun-Netscape Alliance to provide easy to deploy, comprehensive
enterprise and e-commerce solutions and services to business partners and
other companies competing in today's Net Economy. The Alliance product
portfolio provides customers with the industry's most scalable, integrated
infrastructure software and a family of production ready e-commerce
applications. The products are offered on the industry's most widely
available product platforms, including DEC, HP, IBM, Linux, SGI, Microsoft
Windows, and Sun. The alliance software product portfolio includes:
messaging and calendar, collaboration, web, application, directory, and
certificate servers. The Alliance also offers a family of production-ready
applications for e-commerce, including commerce exchange, procurement,
selling, and billing.
About America Online, Inc.
Founded in 1985, America Online, Inc., based in Dulles, Virginia, is the
world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies, and
e-commerce services. America Online, Inc. operates: two worldwide Internet
services, America Online, with more than 18 million members, and CompuServe,
with approximately 2 million members; several leading Internet brands
including ICQ and Digital City, Inc.; the Netscape Netcenter and AOL.COM
portals; and the Netscape Navigator and Communicator browsers. Through its
strategic alliance with Sun Microsystems, the Company develops and offers
easy-to-deploy, end-to-end e-commerce and enterprise solutions for companies
operating in the Net Economy.
About Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision, The Network is The
Computer(TM), has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. to its position as a
leading provider of high quality hardware, software and services for
establishing enterprise-wide intranets and expanding the power of the
Internet. With more than $11 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in
more than 150 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com .
NOTE: Netscape and the Netscape N logo are registered trademarks in the
United States and other countries of Netscape Communications, a subsidiary of
America Online, Inc. Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun Logo, iPlanet and The
Network Is The Computer are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United
States and other countries.
Addendum: Quotes from partners and service providers.
American Management Systems (AMS)
Alliance customers credit the scalability of its applications for creating
its momentum with systems integrators in the service provider market.
"As a global systems integrator AMS is familiar with the special
requirements of service providers, particularly the need for applications that
can scale to support communications organizations. The Alliance has
demonstrated its ability to deliver for massive scalability, which is key to
our market, because no service provider can risk being locked into a solution
that can be made obsolete by business growth. AMS has leveraged the Alliance
product set to enhance its Internet solution offerings for communications
firms," said Patrick W. Gross, AMS founder and chairman, Executive Committee.
AMS is a worldwide technology consulting and integration firm, ranked by
Forbes magazine as one of the top 100 best-performing large companies in the
country.
AnswerThink
AnswerThink Consulting Group Inc. is a fast-growing integrator focused on
the Internet-driven marketplace.
Ted Fernandez, chairman and chief executive officer at AnswerThink, said,
"As the telco industry continues its drive for new value-added service and to
improve customer experience, the rapid deployment of technical solutions is
critical. With the Alliance I have access to a suite of products that offers
a complete and integrated set of capabilities while providing the necessary
scalability and security across the enterprise." The company was recently
featured on the cover of Solutions Integrator magazine.
Cap Gemini
Alexandre Haeffner, president of Cap Gemini Telecom and Media, said his
company "sees extraordinary opportunities in the E-business market to excel at
delivering first-rate business services in today's online environment. The
Sun-Netscape Alliance provides us with a rich toolset for leading edge
applications that operators hope to launch towards business customers."
The Cap Gemini Group (CAPP.PA) combines the forces of Cap Gemini with
Gemini Consulting to form one of the largest management consulting and systems
integration companies in the world. Designing and delivering strategic change
through ideas, people and technology, the Group provides
implementation-focused business consultancy services and systems design,
integration, and implementation. With a workforce of more than 38,000 located
in Europe, the United States and the Far East, Cap Gemini Group recorded 1998
revenues exceeding 4 billion Euros.
The group's dedicated telecommunications unit, Cap Gemini Telecom & Media,
serves the business consulting and information technology needs of many of the
world's largest telecommunications and media companies.
Cisco
"The Alliance server software provides Cisco service provider customers a
robust foundation to realize the cost-efficiencies and new revenue potential
of Cisco's Unified Communications initiative," said Bill Wolfe, Director and
General Manager of the Unified Communications Software business unit at Cisco
Systems, Inc.
Digex
Leading managed hosting and application service provider Digex, Inc.
(Nasdaq: DIGX) uses Alliance products and services to help fuel its growth and
drive the service provider model as the way of doing business on the
Internet.
"Working closely with the Alliance, Digex now offers customers enhanced
implementations of Sun Solaris, Netscape Enterprise Server, and Netscape
Application Server -- part of the Alliance's iPlanet hosting services," said
Laura Heinrich, vice president of marketing for Digex. "These products
deliver around-the-clock availability, on-the-fly scalability, and higher
levels of security. In fact, our partnership has been so successful that
Digex now has one of the world's largest installed bases of iPlanet hosting
services in our state-of-the-art Internet data centers. As we expand our
managed hosting offerings, we will continue to work closely with the Alliance
to deliver an even higher level of service to our customers."
SOURCE Sun-Netscape Alliance
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CONTACT:
Kristen Hyland of Sun-Netscape Alliance,
650-937-6053, or kristenh@netscape.com
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