Microsoft

Description

EMC Microsoft Practice (formerly Internosis) provides IT services to commercial and government customers using products from Microsoft and other tech vendors. Clients have included Analog Devices, Booz Allen Hamilton, the Defense Information Systems Agency, and the US Marine Corps. The company has offices in Colorado, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and Virginia. In 2006 the company was acquired by EMC.

SUN MICROSYSTEMS

When it comes to network computing, it's hard to find an area where the Sun doesn't shine. Sun Microsystems is a leading maker of UNIX-based servers used to power corporate computer networks and Web sites. It also makes workstation computers and a widening range of disk- and tape-based storage systems. Unlike most hardware vendors, Sun makes computers that use its own chips (SPARC) and operating system (Solaris). Its software portfolio includes application server, office productivity, and network management applications. Sun also developed Java, a programming language for creating software that can run unchanged on multiple operating systems.

Sun soared during the the dot-com explosion in the 1990s with hardware optimized for serving Web sites, but the subsequent e-recession leveled the playing field for competitors. The company has responded by significantly growing its product and service lines through internal development and acquisitions -- a strategy that has notably moved it beyond proprietary technology and embraced the open-source movement.

The company's aggressive and outspoken chairman, Scott McNealy, has waged a public battle with Microsoft over the use of Sun's Java programming language. But Microsoft's greatest threat to Sun has been in the server arena, where competitors look to undersell Sun's UNIX-based offerings with servers based on the Wintel platform (Intel processors, Microsoft's operating system). In addition to offering Windows machines, Hewlett-Packard and IBM both sell servers running their own versions of UNIX.

Sun continues to expand its support of Windows and Linux-based products. While the company remains firmly committed to Solaris, it has adopted Linux for select low-end server deployments and developing desktop PC products. With companies such as Dell nipping at its heels at the low end, Sun countered with its own line of inexpensive servers that use Linux and processors from AMD and Intel. It has also made inroads into high-end data centers, a market where IBM has been entrenched with its long history of providing mainframe computing.

Sun's software division develops application server software that competes with offerings from BEA Systems, IBM, and Oracle. Sun's OpenSolaris project, launched in 2005, made Solaris available on an open-source basis. Late that year Sun announced it would also provide its Java Enterprise System, Sun N1 Management software, and development tools for free.

Sun has augmented its internal software development with acquisitions and partnerships. The company purchased Tarantella, a maker of application access software, for about $25 million in 2005. Continuing its software push, Sun purchased enterprise application integration specialist SeeBeyond Technology for $383 million in cash. It also partnered with fellow Microsoft adversary Google, agreeing to bundle the search giant's browser toolbar with its Java Runtime Environment software; the deal has generated wide speculation that the companies could be laying the groundwork for more significant collaboration. Sun acquired Linux systems management software developer Aduva early in 2006.

On the storage front the company has partnered with Hitachi Data Systems to bolster its offerings (pitting it against yet another tech titan, EMC). Its acquisition of startup Pirus Networks furthered Sun's N1 strategy with storage virtualization technology. N1, which is similar to initiatives embraced by IBM and Hewlett-Packard, encompasses a comprehensive effort to build hardware and software that simplifies resource management for network administrators. The company also acquired the assets of network-attached storage (NAS) system provider Procom Technology for approximately $50 million in cash in 2005. Later that year Sun acquired Storage Technology (more commonly known as StorageTek) for $4.1 billion in cash.