Sun Microsystems Inc today announced that it will acquire Java application server developer NetDynamics Inc. We’ll be connecting the emerging web-top environment with application server technology, the most exciting technology we’ve seen since relational databases, said Sun COO Ed Zander. For an undisclosed price, Sun gets NetDynamics’ application server, its Java development tools, its staff, brand, channel partners and – maybe best of all – its customers, including AT&T, Boeing, Cisco, FedEX, Goldman Sachs, HP, JC Penney KeyCorp, Motorola and Rockwell. Once seen as a niche industry, the market for web application servers has had an exciting six months and is now swarming with huge players. Sun’s entry follows those of Netscape, which acquired NetDynamics rival Kiva late last year (CI No 3,297), and Hewlett-Packard Co, which recently announced a partnership with a third Java application server company, WebLogic (CI No 3,428). Latecomer or not, Sun still thinks it’s the biggest player: This transaction validates that market and raises comfort levels for enterprise buyers, Zander said. Even so, media and analysts were surprised at the news that Sun will continue to support NetDynamics on Microsoft’s Windows NT operating system. NT is, of course, a direct competitor to Sun’s Solaris. To explain that decision, Zander pointed to the cross- platform nature of the Java initiative. Java transcends operating systems, he said. We will have customers using HP-UX. We will have customers using NT. But let’s not get carried away. We don’t like NT. We think Solaris is a better operating system for servers, and network computers are a better option for most desktops. But we have to be pragmatic about selling. NT’s a reality and we have to interoperate with it. I’m going to beat NT with Solaris, and I’m going to provide an application level above it with NetDynamics. Please don’t paint this as an NT angle. There have been rumors for some time that Sun was impatient with the slow growth in Java applications and would acquire one of the players in order to accelerate the market. If that’s the rationale behind this purchase, NetDynamics seems an odd choice. Unlike rivals Weblogic and Bluestone, NetDynamics does not support 100% Pure Java. Sun’s Alan Baratz, who runs the company’s Java technology, was quick to point out that the enterprise Java specs are only newly released and that, in many cases, reference implementations don’t exist yet. In other cases, the spec isn’t even defined. A lot more work remains to be done, he said, it’s still early days. One of the advantages of this transaction is that we’re going to get some real first-hand customer feedback and experience. With Sun’s re-organization only completed today (CI No 3,395), observers speculated about where in the hierarchy NetDynamics staff would report. Baratz says NetDynamics already has a strong and effective field sales force and strong channel partners. It’s our intention to preserve all of that, he said, adding that no layoffs are planned. Zander was more direct. This reorg stuff drives me nuts, he said, I think you guys spend too much time on it. Who, us? á
