Storage VP: STK will shine under Sun

BROOMFIELD ? Sun Microsystems Inc. executives view their company?s new relationship with Storage Technology Corp. more as a strategic merger than a $4.1 billion shopping spree.

?If you look at the deal in general, it?s an acquisition,? said James Whitemore, vice president of marketing for Sun?s networked storage group. ?But if you look at an operational level it?s really a merger between Sun?s storage group and StorageTek.?

There?s ?very little overlap? between the two companies that have been partners for 10 years, Whitemore said.

Whitemore said he doesn?t anticipate significant layoffs or reductions of Sun (Nasdaq: SUNW) or StorageTek (NYSE: STK) product portfolios.

One area that should blossom because of the acquisition is sales, Whitemore said. Although Sun has many times more salespeople worldwide than StorageTek, they aren?t storage specialists.
?By bringing in those two sales communities I?ve got an awesome systems team,? he said. ?They can really drive the entire portfolio.?

Sun doesn?t have plans yet for the two Boulder Valley campuses ? Sun?s in Broomfield and StorageTek?s in Louisville ? but Whitemore insisted, ?There?s no reason to reduce presence anywhere.? He said decisions about specific locations should be made during the next 60 to 90 days.

Of Sun?s 32,000 employees worldwide, 2,700 people are in Broomfield. About 2,000 of StorageTek?s 7,000 employees worldwide are in Louisville.

Whitemore stressed that Sun?s Broomfield campus has a significant storage component as well as housing the company?s services division. The company?s other storage resources are split between California and Burlington, Mass., but he couldn?t state how many storage personnel worked at any of the locations.

Sun?s core competency, Whitemore said, is as a systems integrator that understands that storage is at the heart of systems architecture. Besides Sun?s well-known computers and software, ?As a systems company we need a very robust storage product,? he said.

StorageTek?s ?robust storage product? is worth every penny of the $4.1 billion Sun is spending, he said.

In Whitemore?s mind, the Sun acquisition is good for StorageTek as well because, ?We can do things that storage companies certainly can?t do.?

According to Whitemore, three factors ? scale, manageability and security ? drive the storage industry, and Sun and StorageTek have different strengths in these areas.

Whitemore explained that there?s been massive growth in data content, performance, capacity and bandwidth. ?StorageTek understands that better than anybody,? Whitemore said. ?Sun understands how to scale performance. It?s not that different from building server products.?

Both companies have tools for managing these vast data repositories including business continuity and resource utilization, he continued.

Sun?s Solaris operating system is recognized in the information technology community as being more secure than any Windows operating system. ?Sun already has identity management software, directory software and compliance software,? Whitemore said. ?The features and functions that we build into Solaris make it very secure.?

Contact Caron Schwartz Ellis at (303) 440-4950 or e-mail csellis@bcbr.com.

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