Sun needs new vision to fight Microsoft

Sun Microsystems will have to articulate a software vision for the internet if it is to retain "mind and market share" against arch-rival Microsoft.

Daryl Plummer, group vice-president at Gartner, predicted Sun would soon unveil a repositioning of Java around a web services model in response to Microsoft's .Net programme, which involves the redesign of the Redmond giant's software applications to become services delivered over the internet.

Speaking at Gartner's autumn Symposium/ITxpo, Plummer said Sun, which was one of the first companies to talk about network computing, has allowed its competitors to "steal the spotlight" in presenting a vision for theinternet, despite its strength in the web technology area and its marketing savvy.

Despite Sun chief executive Scott McNealy's claim earlier this week that software is just a feature of systems and not an industry, Plummer said the company needs an "integrated strategy for delivering software solutions" over the web.

Sun, which Plummer said could "sell mousetraps to mice", also needs to focus on execution, particularly related to its long-overdue Genesys project for bringing mainframe-like features such as clustering to Sun servers.

The company also needs to release servers based on its Ultrasparc III chip to replace products that are "growing long in the tooth". The chip was made available this month - a full 18 months later than expected.

Gartner said independent software vendor enthusiasm for Sun is the main reason for its leadership in the Unix market, which it has a slim chance of growing to dominate. However, it is far more likely that Hewlett Packard (HP) and IBM, both of which have recently launched upgraded products, will be strong competitors to Sun in the multi-billion dollar operating system market.

The researcher also said Sun's services organisation needs to improve if it is to limit customer problems, which Gartner said ran ahead of those from IBM or HP customers. In particular, Sun needs to focus on quality.

On its acquisition of appliance vendor Cobalt, Plummer said Sun is likely to introduce a Solaris implementation on a higher-end device but retain its existing Linux implementation. However, it can be expected to migrate these devices from Microsoft's Active Server Pages to Java Server Pages technology, he added.