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As a network computer war looms, Java is the key weapon in Sun's arsenal

McNealy and Co. mean business with their new strategy for NC-based enterprise computing

By Kieron Murphy, JavaWorld.com, 11/30/96

New York (October 30, 1996) -- Sun Microsystems yesterday unveiled a broad battle plan for reducing the total cost of ownership of computers in the corporate workplace. With a salvo of announcements before an audience of more than 600 industry analysts, strategic partners, customers, and members of the press, executives at Sun outlined the benefits of their vision for a future in which companies will spend less for hardware, software, training, administration, and maintenance, while simultaneously increasing productivity and communication among employees -- all of which will rely largely upon Java (the core network programming language as well as related technologies such as the JavaOS). It is a vision upon which the company is willing to bet its own future. And Sun will need to be aggressive. Competition for the next generation of devices for the corporate enterprise is becoming white-hot.

"This will be our focus for the next seven years," said Sun CEO Scott McNealy at the rollout. "We intend to take Java technology up to whole new levels, from the mainframe and the supercomputer right on down to the pager and the smart card. In a recent poll, 77 percent of chief information technology officers said they were in the process of building an intranet. The growth rate in intranets is 300 percent a year. So this is a cool business for us to be in."

The crowd pleaser at Sun's new product rollout was the JavaStation, a low-cost "zero-administration" network computer (NC) for running secure Java-enabled applications over corporate intranets or via the Internet. Equally important to Sun's strategy, though, are the introductions of its Netra j server, an array of software solutions for network computing, and a complete regimen of educational and support services.

Getting down to business

The Netra j is described by Sun as "the zero-admin server for the zero-admin client." It runs in the JavaOS environment and features Sun's Netra browser-based administration tool suite. Firewall protection and Internet services come pre-installed, along with Netscape authoring and management software. Applix, Corel, Oracle, and OpenConnect Systems are the first to announce that they will bundle business applications to the Netra j. If the JavaStation will soon be at your fingertips, the Netra j is likely to be where your brain will be going. Ranging in price from ,000 to 00,000 in five configurations, the Netra j will be vital to the Java NC's hopes for success in the enterprise.

"Take the money you'll save from not having to invest in another mainframe, from not spending on the Year 2000 [date problem], and not having to upgrade your desktop PCs, and put it into the Java computing model," said McNealy. "It's the right architectural choice for your ROI [return on investment]."

Sun's software announcements included:

• HotJava Views 1.0 -- a customizable "Webtop" for the JavaStation. Views serves as the user interface for the new Sun NC. It promises to dramatically reduce costs on the client side while providing end users with an intuitive yet highly integrated operating environment. Views consists entirely of button-operated features: Selector, a control for customizing the interface; MailView, an email viewer and editor; CalendarView, a personal calendar and interactive group scheduler; NameView, a personal contact database manager; and InfoView, a personal browser applet.
  
  
• Project Studio -- a drag-and-drop environment based on the JavaBeans API for codeless generation of Java applets, enabling users to build their own business content offerings.
  
  
• Project Speedway -- new technology for accelerating the performance of Java applications through the use of next-generation just-in-time compilers and Java Virtual Machines.
  
  
• Project ICE-T -- a new tool for connecting Java clients to existing enterprise systems, protecting current business investments in information technology.
  
  
• Joe 1.0 -- a CORBA-compliant object-request broker for the delivery of sophisticated business applications over corporate intranets or via the Internet. Joe is immediately available for free downloading from Sun's Web site.
  
  
• JavaPlan -- a suite of tools for creating a repository of object-oriented models, code, and business processes in Java, expediting the delivery and maintainability of custom applications.
  
  
• Solstice Internet Mail 2.0 -- a new Java-based client/server e-mail system that supports Eudora, Exchange, and ProntoMail, among others, and operates on any platform with a Java runtime environment.

"When we demo HotJava Views, people immediately react with the same response, 'Oh, now I get it'," said David Spenhoff, director of marketing for the new product. "We started by gathering our human-interface engineers together back in June and told them that we wanted the simplest and most integrated design they could come up with. And frankly, we were a little surprised at how many roadblocks in the interface they were able to eliminate."

 

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