Schwartz seeks to reassure staff over Oracle deal

Schwartz: Sun staff can look forward to a bright future with Oracle

Sun chief executive Jonathan Schwartz has sent an email to workers at the company to calm nerves over the recently agreed buyout by Oracle.

In the message, seen by The Wall Street Journal and confirmed to vnunet.com by Sun, Schwartz admitted to some mixed feelings about the deal, writing, "This is one of the toughest emails I’ve ever had to write, but it’s also one of the most hopeful about Sun’s future in the industry."

He said that although the decision was not an easy one, the firm had "never walked away from a challenge - or an opportunity", adding that all members of the Sun board voted to accept the Oracle deal with "enthusiasm".

"The transaction stands to utterly transform the marketplace - bringing together two companies with a long history of working together to create a newly unified vision of the future," Schwartz explained. "Oracle’s interest in Sun is very clear - they aspire to help customers simplify the development, deployment and operation of high value business systems, from applications all the way to datacentres. By acquiring Sun, Oracle will be well positioned to help customers solve the most complex technology problems related to running a business."

Schwartz said he sees a future where the two firms work hand in hand to beat the remaining competition. He added that a combined Oracle/Sun company would help to speed up the convergence of storage, networking and computing, and deliver "one of the world’s most powerful and complete portfolios of business and technical software".

As well as reassuring workers about the future of the firm's technology, Sun's boss also suggested that their roles would be safe, and would continue to challenge them.

"It's the people that fuel both companies. Having spent a considerable amount of time talking to Oracle, let me assure you they are single minded in their focus on the one asset that doesn’t appear in our financial statements: our people. That’s their highest priority - creating an inviting and compelling environment in which our brightest minds can continue to invent and deliver the future," he said.