So as you See Sun is Pragmatic on Server Sise! Wednesday October 21, 2:01 pm Eastern Time Company Press Release Sun Changes the Application Server Landscape NetDynamics(TM) Software Bundle for the Solaris(TM) Operating Environment, Garners More Major Customers; Enhances Transactional Capabilities through Inprise Deal PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 21, 1998-- Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW - news) today announced that it has completed its acquisition of NetDynamics, Inc. and has immediately begun to change the application server landscape. Sun is making the NetDynamics(TM) application platform central to its enterprise software business. It will serve as the foundation for a complete line of application servers that scale applications from embedded devices to mainframes, and provide integration with legacy systems, databases, and business applications. Effective immediately, Sun will offer a NetDynamics software bundle option with all Sun servers running the Solaris(TM) operating environment. Sun also announced that NetDynamics continues to garner more major customer wins and successes, including Countrywide (operating on the Windows NT system), FedEx (Solaris, HP-UX, Windows NT), GetSmart.com (Solaris), and Telstra (HP-UX and Windows NT). Sun acquired NetDynamics to provide the architectural foundation of the next wave in enterprise network computing - application servers based on the Java(TM) technology platform. The NetDynamics application server platform is a proven technology and business solution that complements the Java Web Server(TM), Java Embedded Server(TM) products, and other enterprise Java products. With NetDynamics technology, Sun delivers a middle-tier application layer that ties together disparate operating systems, databases, business applications, embedded devices, desktop computers, and mainframes. The product line helps organizations more effectively connect their customers, partners, suppliers and employees to gain competitive advantage in the Net-based economy. ``Sun is committed to its NetDynamics technology, its pragmatic business proposition, and even more so to its proven ability to deliver business value, so we're making NetDynamics software the key component of Sun's enterprise software business,'' said Alan Baratz, president of Sun's Java Software. ``To address the heterogeneous nature of today's enterprise environments, Sun will offer customers a best-of-breed software solution on multiple hardware and software platforms. With NetDynamics, we're best positioned to address enterprise environments at the high end, consumer devices at the low end, and to tie in everything in between.'' More Enterprise Customer Deals and Successful Deployments After the intent to acquire NetDynamics, Inc. was announced, FedEx selected the NetDynamics application server for some of its corporate applications running on Solaris, Windows NT and HP-UX systems, Countrywide Home Loans standardized on the NetDynamics product for all of its future Windows NT applications, and Telstra - Australia's largest telco - chose it for applications across HP-UX, Solaris and Windows NT. In addition, Sun announced that GetSmart.com, the online marketplace for consumer and business borrowing, has successfully deployed its Web application with NetDynamics products on Sun Enterprise(TM) hardware. (see accompanying announcements at http://www.sun.com/smi/Press/sunflash/). A NetDynamics Option for Every Sun Server Sun will make the NetDynamics product available as a bundle add-on to all Sun servers running the Solaris(TM) operating environment. This natural pairing of software and hardware will broaden the reach of the NetDynamics product into more enterprise accounts and make it easier for customers to quickly implement enterprise application server solutions. The NetDynamics software bundle option will be available through Sun's sales forces, and also will be available through Sun hardware that is authorized for the NetDynamics product line. Extending Functionality with Inprise VisiBroker ITS License After the intent to acquire NetDynamics was announced, Sun agreed to license Inprise's VisiBroker Integrated Transaction Service (ITS), an object-oriented transaction monitor for distributed applications. The agreement enhances the NetDynamics product's transactional capabilities in addition to its previously announced integration options with technologies including Hitachi's TP Broker, BEA TUXEDO and IBM CICS, and is an extension of an existing license for the VisiBroker Object Request Broker (ORB) technology. The NetDynamics product line will be expanded in future releases to provide NetDynamics object transaction monitor capabilities, bolstering Sun's presence in the middle-tier arena (see Inprise announcement). About Sun Microsystems Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision, ``The Network Is The Computer(TM),'' has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW - news), to its position as a leading provider of high quality hardware, software and services for establishing enterprise-wide intranets and expanding the power of the Internet. With more than $9 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 150 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com. Sun, Sun Microsystems, Java, Sun Enterprise, Solaris, NetDynamics, Java Web Server, Java Embedded Server, and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.