Sun Continues Successful Migration of HP Customers to Solaris Servers Helping
Them Steer Clear of 'Itanic'
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sun Microsystems,
Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) today announced details of yet another recent win in the
financial services industry for its successful HP Away migration program. Data
Action, a leading retail banking services company in Australia, recently
replaced its HP server and storage environment with a comprehensive Sun
infrastructure as it sought superior performing technologies backed by a solid
long-term roadmap. HP customers continue to turn to Sun as a viable lifeline
based on its impressive lineup of 64-bit enterprise computing systems and the
Solaris(TM) 10 operating system (OS).
"I'm a firm believer in good business partnerships-and HP had previously
enjoyed two contract renewals with us but, coming up for the third time, the
bar was clearly too high for them," said Brian McCulloch, chief executive
officer, Data Action. "We set standard parameters for our existing provider to
meet. HP was asked to demonstrate a life cycle for its hardware and a true
growth path, not just blue sky technology. They recommended we switch to their
new Itanium technology, which did not satisfy our needs. It lacked a proven
direction or growth path, and, at the time of benchmarking, also required a
move to an as yet unproven release of Sybase."
Data Action then invited competitive responses from IBM and Sun. Sun
proposed its Sun Fire(TM) V890 servers featuring the UltraSPARC(R) IV
processor. Coupled with the Solaris OS, the Sun Fire V890 server offers
extensive compute, input/output and storage capacity. To test the performance
gains from each of the servers, Data Action established a consistent,
reproducible and measurable benchmark performance test. This entailed running
a Batch Overnight process -- which essentially performs all interest accruals,
transactional updates and statement preparation for one of its large customers
-- on each of the platforms, then comparing the results. The Sun solution
provided stellar performance and also supported the required version of Sybase
at an appropriate price.
"Data Action's move to Sun underscores what we've known for a long time --
customers are wary of HP's enterprise road-map, and they find in Sun a very
healthy alternative," said Fred Kohout, vice president, marketing, Scalable
Systems Group, Sun Microsystems. "HP customers must be scratching their
collective heads, wondering if HP really has a credible UNIX(R) operating
system or high-end processor to choose from. And now Sun is gunning for HP's
strong-hold on industry standard systems. With our new x64 servers, as well as
UltraSPARC IV+ systems and Solaris 10 OS, Sun gives enterprise customers the
most compelling product line-up in years with the freedom to choose industry
standard SPARC(R) processors or AMD Opteron processors."
Following the recent launch of a new family of enterprise-class Sun Fire
x64 (x86, 64-bit) multi-core available servers powered with the AMD Opteron
(TM) processor, the Sun Fire X4100 server provides up to 1.5 times the
performance, up to 56% power savings, and at one-half the price of current HP
ProLiant Xeon servers(1). For an increased incentive for HP customers looking
to get off 'Itanic,' Sun will give any existing HP customer up to a 20% trade
up allowance on any eligible HP Server. Customers interested in learning more
can visit: http://www.sun.com/emrkt/itanic
About Sun Microsystems, Inc.
A singular vision -- "The Network Is The Computer"(TM) -- guides Sun in
the development of technologies that power the world's most important markets.
Sun's philosophy of sharing innovation and building communities is at the
forefront of the next wave of computing: the Participation Age. Sun can be
found in more than 100 countries and on the Web at sun.com. Subscribe to Sun
newswire at http://sun.com/news .
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Mark Richardson
Sun Microsystems, Inc.
650.257.4038
mark.richardson@sun.com
Courtney Anderson
Bite Communications for Sun
415.365.0471
courtney.anderson@bitepr.com
allpress@sun.com
650.786.7737
(1) For details on the Sun Fire X4100 server's performance:
http://sun.com/x4100/benchmarks.html . Sun Fire X4100 pricing: 2x280 dual-
core (4 processors), 72GB disk, 16GB DDR1-400 memory, Solaris 10 OS, 8/22/05;
HP DL580 G3 pricing: 4x3.666GHz, 16x2GB (additional memory boards needed),
36GB disk, no OS, 8/22/05. For more details:
http://www.sun.com/servers/entry/x4100/competitive-card.pdf
NOTE: Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Java, StarOffice, Solaris, and
The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun
Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All SPARC
trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or registered trademarks
of SPARC International, Inc. in the United States and other countries.
Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based upon an architecture developed by
Sun Microsystems, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and
other countries, exclusively licensed through X/Open Company Ltd.
SOURCE Sun Microsystems, Inc.
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Related links:
http://sun.com
CONTACT:
Mark Richardson of Sun Microsystems, Inc.,
+1-650-257-4038, or mark.richardson@sun.com, or allpress@sun.com,
+1-650-786-7737; or Courtney Anderson of Bite Communications,
+1-415-365-0471, or courtney.anderson@bitepr.com, for Sun
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