---------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUN WINS MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR NEW ZEALAND INLAND REVENUE OFFICE AUTOMATION CONTRACT SunFLASH Vol 19 #13 July 1990 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Major Business Win Shows SPARC's Price/Performance Superiority MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. --July 18, 1990-- Sun Microsystems, Inc., announced today that it has won a multi-million dollar office automation contract from New Zealand's Inland Revenue Department, which is that nation's equivalent to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. Sun will supply its SPARC(R)-based systems and networking products to Inland Revenue as part of the most significant upgrade in the department's history. The contract also includes OFFICEPOWER office automation software from ICL (International Computers, Ltd.) Inc. The choice of Sun hardware illustrates the company's growing strength in business applications. One reason Sun won over competitors is because of its superior price/performance; 90 percent of project funds had to come from savings made due to automation. Inland Revenue is presently revamping New Zealand's entire tax system, upgrading to computer systems that will improve reporting and overall efficiency. Inland Revenue will use OFFICEPOWER software for a wide variety of office automation tasks, including electronic mail and word processing. In addition, OFFICEPOWER will be used to integrate PCs into an OFFICEPOWER local area network using ICL's PowerWindows and PCPower options, which connect DOS-based PCs to UNIX(R) applications. When complete, 36 district offices will be equipped with Sun servers connected to IBM and Unisys mainframe computers. The servers run general office automation and terminal access applications, while the mainframes run human resource, financial and tax applications. Since the new system is UNIX-based, all inter-office data is easily exchanged among various systems using LAN and OFFICEPOWER software. These locations will be connected to each other and to the IBM and Unisys mainframes via an X.25 wide area network (WAN). An important element in Inland Revenue's comprehensive computer network is Sun's network management and administration tool, called SunNet(TM) Manager, which allows centralized control of network resources through the easy-to-use OPEN LOOK(TM) graphical interface. According to the New Zealand Inland Revenue, Sun's open computing approach -- which enables the operation to maintain existing computer investments and connect a variety of systems from many different vendors -- was the most cost-effective method to meet its goal of making the new system advanced yet affordable. An initial pilot study was begun in November 1989. As a result, Inland Revenue chose Sun's RISC (reduced instruction set computer) servers, including the high-performance SPARCserver(TM) 390 and 490 systems and entry-level SPARCserver 1+s. At each of the district offices, an Ethernet local area network (LAN) will connect existing PCs, terminals and printers to the Sun servers and several Sun workstations. According to Inland Revenue, one of the key selection criteria was that the final system must give a single desktop device access to office productivity and automation tools, and access to mainframe-resident data. The Sun server-based solution not only provides a platform for OFFICEPOWER software, but also allows any device on the network -- workstation, PC or terminal -- to access OFFICEPOWER, IBM and Unisys mainframe information. At the same time, the servers improve security and control authorization. Sun's 3270 terminal emulator, Sun Unisys/Connect and X.25 communications software are used to link district offices with the mainframe sites. These software tools work with SunNet Manager for centralized system and network administration across the wide area network. By using SunNet Manager, Inland Revenue has eliminated the need for local system administration in each district office. Instead, it will now come from a centrally managed headquarters resource. Inland Revenue expects to have the initial system and internetworking installed by November 1990. When complete, the system will connect up to 4,000 users in an open, multi-vendor environment. ICL, Inc., is the North American arm of International Computers Ltd., the largest U.K.-based computer company. ICL has operations in 70 countries and is a subsidiary of STC PLC (U.K., 1989 revenues $4.4 billion). ICL develops and markets a broad range of UNIX-based computer hardware, software, networking and integration solutions for the commerical office automation market. 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. ### SPARC is a registered trademark of SPARC International, based on technology developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. SPARCserver and SunNet are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark and 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. 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