New Sun software chief boon for Java?
By Deborah Gage, Sm@rt Reseller
August 6, 1999 2:28 PM PT
URL: zdnet.com
This week's sudden shuffle among Sun Microsystems Inc.'s software management may end up being a boon, rather than a bust, for the future of Java platform.
Java licensees are hailing Sun Vice President Jon Kannegaard as an excellent choice to replace Alan Baratz as Sun's software chief, even if the appointment is only temporary. Sun has said an executive search is underway but will not comment further.
While Baratz was an evangelist for Java and had a high public profile for a technology executive, his outspokenness and shoot-from-the-hip management style caused controversy both inside and outside of Sun (Nasdaq:SUNW), say industry watchers.
Kannegaard: The detail man
Kannegaard has been much less visible than Baratz, but his slogging through the details of building the Enterprise Java platform and Sun's HotSpot compiler has earned him respect, even from Sun's competitors, as a technically savvy manager who can move projects forward while protecting everyone's interests.
Baratz has always been a wild card, say Sun watchers. His announcement at a press conference in Europe that Sun was changing international standards bodies for Java to avoid alleged interference by Microsoft Corp., for example, caught parts of Sun and the standards community by surprise. It took several days for Sun to deliver to the public consistent story about what had happened.
Likewise, Baratz's announcement of Java 2 Micro Edition at Sun's JavaONE developer conference in June sent licensees reeling as they scrambled to find out what Sun was up to and how their own products and plans would be affected.
Although licensees have not questioned the technical reasons for Sun's decision, the manner in which Micro Edition was rolled out resulted in plenty of unfavorable comparisons between Sun and Microsoft.
In an interview at JavaONE, Kannegaard said he was not involved in decisions about Micro Edition. He has been focused on Enterprise Edition, and while Sun has made mistakes in that area as well, licensees at JavaONE were uniform in their praise for server-side Java and the role Sun is playing in moving the platform forward.
"Sun is doing everything right," said Kenneth Rubin, chief operating officer of application server developer Secant Technologies Inc.
'Not cut-throat enough'?
Analyst Anne Thomas of the Patricia Seybold Group says she thinks Kannegaard is "not cut-throat enough" to fight the battles Baratz did, including defending JavaSoft from the more established parts of Sun while keeping powerful licensees like IBM Corp. and Oracle Corp.at bay.
Baratz was also one of the chief architects of the license agreement with Microsoft, which is now being litigated in U.S. District Court in San Jose.
However, Java is now mature enough that it's execution time for Sun and most licensees have been circumspect about Baratz's departure, confining themselves to wishing him good luck. One exception is Insignia Solutions Inc., which claims it is so far the only company with clean-room Java to sign Sun's Community Source License Agreement, a move that it credits to persuasion by Baratz.
Baratz's departure had been rumored inside Sun for several months. Wags said Baratz was at odds with Sun President Ed Zander, a claim Baratz denies.
"Ed and I both wanted to be sure that 'the world' knew that we have had and continue to have a great relationship ... and that I was leaving for another great opportunity that was just too good to pass up," Baratz said.
Other Sun watchers speculate that Baratz was bored. His new job as managing director of the Information Technology Team at investor Warburg, Pincus & Co. is similar to one of his original roles at Sun when he looked for startups to help expand Java's influence. He also
advised IBM CEO Lou Gerstner on directions for networking and the Internet in a previous
job.
Kannegaard, meanwhile, is in now in charge of Sun's Java platform, Solaris, tools and developer programs.
All the best,
Michael |
