---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Florida SunFlash Sun Attracts Additional Commercial Resellers SunFLASH Vol 27 #23 March 1991 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adds Commercial Reseller Agreement to ACCESS Graphics Relationship MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. --March 27, 1991-- To continue it's expansion into commercial markets, Sun Microsystems today announced the addition of two new commercial resellers and the expansion of its relationship with an existing reseller. The Commercial Systems Group of Arrow Electronics, Inc. will assist Sun in selecting commercial resellers with proprietary UNIX(R) applications and manage the porting of their applications to Sun's operating system and graphical user interface, Open Windows(TM). Sun also signed a joint marketing agreement with Novadyne Computer Systems Inc. to resell Sun systems into the PICK(R) VAR commercial market. In addition, Sun's current relationship with technical reseller, ACCESS Graphics Technology, has been expanded, making it easier and quicker for Sun's existing commercial resellers to purchase and receive Sun systems. "In the last year, Sun has taken dramatic steps in widening distribution as they seek to pioneer new channels for the workstation market," said Lee Levitt Director of Channels Research for International Data Corporation (IDC). "It's been said that workstation products have limited channels of distribution. Sun's innovative programs and support will offer its channel partners mainstream workstation sales and support." Arrow And Sun To Establish Commercial UNIX Porting Centers Arrow's Commercial Systems Group has extensive commercial UNIX experience in the reseller channel. Arrow will assist Sun in the selection and recruitment of resellers with proprietary commercial UNIX solutions, significantly broadening the types of commercial markets Sun addresses. These commercial solutions include accounting, finance, healthcare, hospitality, insurance, inventory, distribution, manufacturing, legal and retail/wholesale. Sun will train and certify Arrow's technical support staff and direct sales organization. Sun will also assist Arrow in establishing three regional porting centers in Columbus, Ohio, Boston, Mass. and Hayward, Calif., to be staffed and managed by Arrow personnel. Through these centers selected by Sun and Arrow, resellers will gain access to technical support, Sun equipment, software development tools such as compilers and debuggers, and design guides that assist in porting of their applications. Sun will authorize resellers who have completed porting their applications to resell its desktop and deskside systems. Additionally, these resellers qualify as members of Sun's Catalyst(TM) Program. Quick Delivery/Flexible Financing for Small Commercial Resellers Sun's agreement with ACCESS Graphics of Boulder, Colo., is an extension to the existing contract. ACCESS currently delivers Sun products, service and support to Sun authorized resellers who specialize in technical computing environments such as computer-aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM) and sophisticated high-end technical publishing. Under the new agreement, ACCESS will now also distribute Sun products, service and support to existing authorized Sun resellers who cater to commercial computing customers. Over the next three to six months, Sun and ACCESS expect to add approximately 75 commercial resellers who each currently purchase less than $1 million in equipment from Sun. This is in addition to approximately 200 technical resellers that will have transitioned to ACCESS by June 30. To assure the level of support necessary for these additional resellers, ACCESS will increase several technical and sales support staff over the coming months. Novadyne to Resell Sun PICK Solution Novadyne Computer Systems, a leading supplier of turnkey PICK solutions, signed a multi-million-dollar agreement to resell Sun's products into the commercial PICK marketplace. PICK is an operating system and database environment specially developed for commercial applications. PICK commercial solutions include such areas as manufacturing, distribution, transportation and insurance. Novadyne will sell a fully-integrated solution, including Sun hardware and VMark or UniData relational database software to its PICK VARs. The VAR will add the PICK application and resell to end users. The agreement provides Sun with the opportunity to gain increasing marketshare in the business application marketplace. It affords Novadyne the leading UNIX platform which they can offer to the PICK community. Novadyne will service and support Sun hardware and software sold through the agreement. This makes Novadyne one of the few non-manufacturers to offer a total support function for both PICK resellers and end users. Sun Maintains Authorization Rights To ensure optimal coverage for its markets, Sun will continue to maintain authorization rights in the selection and approval of resellers applying to resell Sun products through Arrow, ACCESS and Novadyne. Sun will continue to require its resellers to meet value-add requirements and quality standards such as face-to-face sales, technical support, and sales and technical training necessary to achieve customer satisfaction. PR contact John Loiacono (415) 336-6424 Hi Tech Public Relations Erica Zeidenberg (415) 864-5600 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ For information send mail to info-sunflash@sunvice.East.Sun.COM. Subscription requests should be sent to sunflash-request@sunvice.East.Sun.COM. Archives are on solar.nova.edu and paris.cs.miami.edu. All prices, availability, and other statements relating to Sun or third party products are valid in the U.S. only. Please contact your local Sales Representative for details of pricing and product availability in your region. Descriptions of, or references to products or publications within SunFlash does not imply an endorsement of that product or publication by Sun Microsystems. John McLaughlin, SunFlash editor, flash@sunvice.East.Sun.COM. (305) 776-7770.