Sun Microsystems Inc’s new subsidiaries officially came on-line last week. The company is now divided into three operating units: Sun Microsystems Computer Co handling the hardware; Sunsoft Inc, fielding the software; and SunTech Enterprises Inc handling value-added products. The new organisation was previewed last February, but as yet, neither SunSoft nor SunTech is saying much of a substantive nature about its charter. It’s still like pulling teeth trying even to get their structures. SunSoft’s masters include Sun Microsystems’ former vice-president of marketing Ed Zander, as expected, along with Bill Larson, the former director of Sun’s Catalyst program as vice-president of sales and marketing and Bill Coleman, Sun’s former systems software vice-president, in a similar slot with the new venture and Bill Keating, Sun’s corporate technical marketing director. They’ll start leaking their strategy in August and expect to start rolling out product at an independent software vendors’ conference in California on September 4 to 6. The product is, of course, this comprehensive software environment they’ve been so mysterious about, expected to include SunOS, Open Network Computing, X.11 Network-extensible Windowing System, OpenWindows and Open Look. They’ll be doing some heavy recruiting for the event, and are said to be starting with a mail-shot to 150,000 recipients. In the meantime, SunSoft is said to be toying with the notion of getting a third party to do an implementation of SunOS for Intel Corp iAPX-86 architecture. Unfortunately, SunTech proved completely elusive by press time last week, and was dubbed by insiders less organised than its sister unit. SunSoft may not have anything real to say for itself yet but it wants people to know what its attitude will be: last week it sent out baseballs to touch base and let us know they’re ready to play football.
