Sun Microsystems Inc is to stop selling and supporting its SunIngres and SunUnify database products, users were told at the Sun user group meeting held in Miami last month. According to a source from Sun, database products are extremely complex and difficult to support, and are subject to quickly changing technology. Sun says it removed the products from its price list from November 13, and will give existing users a two month’s window to make the transition from Sun to Relational Technology Inc or Unify Corp for their support contracts – finishing on February 7 for Ingres, and at a later, as yet undecided date for the newer SunUnify product. In place of selling database products itself, Sun says it intends to form strategic partnerships with several of the leading database companies, including Oracle, Relational and Sybase for its internal needs, and will work with those companies, and also with Informix Software Inc – but there was no mention of Unify – to provide database technology for its customers, establishing joint marketing, sales, and engineering agreements.
