Today
we sit down with Joe Heel, Senior Vice President of Sun's Global
Storage Practice. Joe shares his thoughts on the new Sun/Microsoft
Interoperability Center and a new joint collaboration – the Sun
Infrastructure Solution for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007.
Question:
Give us a sense of what Sun announced today, and what the impact
will be to customers.
JH:
We made two key announcements today about our relationship with
Microsoft. The first notable item is that we have launched a joint
Interoperability Center together with Microsoft on their Redmond,
WA, campus. I was onsite back in January to meet with some peers and
take part in filming the launch video; I was quite impressed with the
facility, and excited about the sense of openness and opportunity for
collaboration that the Interop Center offers. The customer benefits
are also quite clear, as we will bring to bear the strength of both
Sun's and Microsoft's technical know-how and industry-leading
innovations.
The
second component in today's announcement is around the Sun
Infrastructure Solution for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. Sun
has developed a targeted solution to address the infrastructure needs
of Microsoft Exchange users. This offer provides compelling reasons
to run the application on Sun's hardware
platforms, which deliver optimal performance in Exchange
environments. Customers can save
up to 70% on their email total cost of ownership (TCO) over a
three-year period and realize up to 85% in “eco” savings as part
of this.
Q:
What kind of work will be done at the Interoperability Center?
JH:
One of the main functions the Interop Center will have is as a lab
and testing facility for Microsoft Windows running on Sun hardware.
It also offers a space for benchmarking, demos, and concept
validation of new or unique environments. I think one of the coolest
capabilities it has is around co-development of solutions around
things like web services and identity. It's also a place where
customers and Sun or Microsoft employees can run proofs-of-concept
before deploying a given configuration.
Q:
Switching gears a bit....are the Exchange 2007 solutions targeted at
businesses of any particular scale?
JH:
The Exchange Infrastructure solution is not a “one size fits all”
offering; as a Microsoft Gold Partner, we have initially developed
and tested six separate configurations targeted at organizations with
an Exchange 2007 user base of anywhere from 1,000 to 20,000+ users,
and will continue to grow our set of Microsoft approved
configurations with new Sun products. Furthermore, we have developed
sizing tools to help customers of all sizes find the server and
storage configuration that is right specifically for their
environment and workload requirements. So, again, we have many
options and can scale as a customer's business grows.
Q:
Sounds great, but why did Sun focus on email, and on Exchange 2007
in particular?
JH:
Email space and bandwidth requirements have increased tremendously –
some sources cite an average growth of 68% year-on-year for four
straight years. Obviously this puts significant financial and
operational pressure on organizations to manage their email growth.
The transition from Exchange 2003 to 2007 has tremendous potential to
save customers acquisition and operating expenses, but you won't hear
many of our competitors offering these savings as they have hug
installed base revenues to protect. Sun's
Exchange solution offers the industry's most powerful 64-bit servers
and optimally-sized storage; implementing Exchange 2007 on Sun will
cost save customers up to 70% in acquisition, space, power, cooling
and operational costs over 3 years.
I
should also note that while we're focused on email archive because of
growth in this area, it's critical, too, because most customers do
not leverage lower-cost secondary storage for storing dated or
non-critical data. This cost savings opportunity is largely
overlooked in IT organizations.
Q:
From a sales standpoint, what do you see as the biggest opportunity
in today's announcements?
JH:
I think the Exchange Infrastructure solution is huge, as it is a
direct response to what customers have been seeking. Our Solutions
teams have been hard at work, and have assembled what I think is a
world-class offering. In previews with customers, partners and
others, the reception has been strongly positive. We have a full
series of collateral, supporting materials, and data ready to go.
Plus with several experienced partners on board to help ensure
successful deployment, I think we'll see great uptake over the next
several quarters.
Q:
Is the Sun Infrastructure Solution for Microsoft Exchange just a
storage solution?
JH:
Not at all; our Exchange Solution focuses on offering the full
end-to-end infrastructure, including both servers and storage. In
fact, we have some configurations for small customers which leverage
servers alone. That said, storage is a critical part of right-sizing
an Exchange environment. As such, taking a holistic approach we've
taken here ensures that optimal configurations are selected for our
customers.
