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	SUN TO OFFER SPARC SOLUTIONS TO PICK RESELLERS

SunFLASH Vol 16 #10 					 	April 1990 
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Users Will Benefit From Advantages of SPARC/UNIX/OPEN LOOK
 
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. --April 10, 1990-- Sun Microsystems today
announced plans to make its high-performance line of SPARC/UNIX
workstations and servers available to value-added resellers (VARs) of
PICK solutions. These resellers are becoming increasingly
interested in the UNIX operating system as a host environment for
PICK applications. As the world's leading UNIX workstation vendor, Sun
sees great commercial potential in the PICK market.

Sun will be showing its hardware and software to PICK resellers at the
International Spectrum '90, a major PICK industry trade show being held
in Anaheim on April 11-13.

Besides UNIX advantages such as superior networking and multi-tasking,
Sun offers PICK resellers low-cost desktop systems and servers in a
range of performance levels. All Sun systems can function in an open,
multi-vendor environment. In addition, they run an easy-to-use
graphical interface called OPEN LOOK(TM) that significantly improves
productivity.

PICK is a popular application environment attractive to developers and
end users of business software. There are approximately 4,000
commercial PICK applications in vertical markets such as accounting,
distribution, manufacturing, legal and retail.

Bringing PICK to UNIX(R)

Software products like UniREALITY , designed by UniData and McDonnell
Douglas, and uniVerse, from VMark Software, ease the migration of PICK
applications to UNIX. Combining a PICK RDBMS with development tools,
these products can be used to quickly recompile PICK applications for
UNIX operating systems, such as SunOS(TM).

UniData and uniVerse reside on top of UNIX, giving users the familiar
PICK operating environment and database with UNIX power and
functionality. For example, McDonnell Douglas Field Service Company is
using UniREALITY for its new server based on Sun's SPARC(TM)
architecture.

Sun has established relationships with a number of resellers who
license the uniVerse software from VMark so that their applications can
run on Sun hardware. Among them are The Media Services Group,
Intelligent Technologies, Knowledge International and USC Software
Systems. Sun is also launching a program to attract other key PICK
resellers.

Getting the Full Benefits of SPARC

"PICK opens up a wide array of commercial sales opportunities for us,"
said Scott McNealy, president and CEO of Sun. "Meanwhile, SPARC's
open, flexible architecture gives PICK resellers entry to the
fast-growing UNIX computer market, which utilizes networked
workstations and servers. Using Sun products, resellers can combine
workstations, X-terminals, dumb terminals and servers, thus meeting
user needs."

With SPARC and UNIX, PICK resellers can take advantage of capabilities
not available for today's PICK solutions. These include multi-tasking,
multiple windows, advanced networking, graphics and top-selling
productivity applications such as WordPerfect, Lotus 1-2-3 and WingZ.

In a recent study, InfoCorp, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based research
firm, noted that PICK vendors are becoming increasingly interested in
the UNIX operating system. According to the study, the appeal of UNIX
lies in its "off-the-shelf LAN, WAN and IBM communications; a variety
of third-party horizontal database and office automation applications,
including graphics; a wide selection of high-level programming
languages; a strong application development environment; and good name
recognition and user popularity."

Traditionally, PICK applications have run on proprietary hardware.
However, offering PICK applications on top of UNIX allows resellers to
give their customers the platform of their choice. "Hardware purchase
decisions can now be made on the basis of what's the best technology
for a specific application rather than what hardware is available for
PICK," McNealy said.

He believes PICK resellers have an ideal, next-generation solution in
the SPARC product line. SPARC workstations and servers offer from 12.5
to 22 MIPS of computing performance. They are binary compatible with
SPARC systems from other vendors and can be connected with a wide range
of computers from other manufacturers.

Sun Microsystems, Inc., headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., is a
leading worldwide supplier of network-based distributed computing
systems, including professional workstations, servers and UNIX
operating system and productivity software.

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SPARC and SunOS are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. UniREALITY is
a registered trademark of McDonnell Douglas. PICK is a registered
trademark of PICK Systems Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark of
AT&T. OPEN LOOK is a trademark of AT&T. All other products or
services mentioned in this document are identified by the trademarks or
service marks of their respective companies or organizations.

Press Contact:
Nancy Groves (415) 336-6411

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Sunflash is an electronic mail news service from Sun Microsystems,
Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Please address comments to John McLaughlin
(sun!sunvice!johnj or johnj@sunvice.East.Sun.COM). (305) 776-7770.