more news Tuesday September 9 7:00 AM EDT
Company Press Release
Sun Microsystems and GlobeSet Joining Forces to Deliver
Cutting Edge "Secure Electronic Transaction" Solutions
For Sun's Solaris Platform
Landmark Pact Expected To Bring Wealth of New On-Line Payment
Products Based on SET Standard
AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 9, 1997--Expanding their commitments to support
open standards for secure electronic transactions (SET), Sun Microsystems, Inc. and GlobeSet, Inc.
today announced a comprehensive, two-year joint marketing agreement in which GlobeSet intends
to offer a complete line of SET-based solutions for the Sun Solaris(TM) platform.
GlobeSet will make Sun's highly reliable, secure and scalable Solaris operating environment a
preferred platform for all of its future and existing solutions based on SET. The SET protocol is the
emerging standard for safeguarding payment-card purchases made over the Internet. GlobeSet
products also are expected to begin utilizing the Java(TM) platform, inter-operating with Java-based
electronic commerce technology from Sun.
``To see meaningful electronic commerce in the near future, the industry is going to have to agree to
an architecture that allows merchants and customers to seamlessly move money over the Internet,
intranet or extranet without worrying about which security standards or platforms you have on the
network,'' said Katherine Webster, Group Manager of Electronic Commerce Market Development
at Sun.
``Interoperability will be critical. By working with GlobeSet to advance the open SET protocol, and
by extending Java technology to electronic commerce, we think we've set the stage to deliver secure,
scalable and inter-operable end-to-end solutions for executing online financial transactions.''
``We believe SET is ready for e-commerce primetime,'' said Michael Cation, chairman and chief
executive officer of GlobeSet. ``There are more than 65 SET pilots taking place right now around
the world, and we've been working with many of those to advance this technology. Our goal is to
make Internet commerce safe and secure for our customers through SET, so we're excited by the
prospect of working closely with Sun, which has been dedicated to this core concept for many
years.''
GlobeSet chose the Sun Solaris operating environment because of its proven ability to deliver the
WebTone, a requirement for electronic commerce. The WebTone is the 21st century equivalent of
the dial tone, and ensures that customers, partners and employees have continuous, secure access to
a company's intranet and extranet and the Internet.
The joint marketing agreement announced today also calls for Sun to provide engineering expertise
to help optimize GlobeSet solutions for the Solaris platform. Either company will be able to market
and promote products resulting from this agreement, and the allies will cooperate to offer worldwide
consulting and training services to customers using the solutions.
The SET protocol was first unveiled by MasterCard and Visa in spring 1996, and SET 1.0 was
published a year later in June 1997. SET's key backers include: GlobeSet, Sun Microsystems,
CertCo, GTE, IBM, Microsoft, Netscape, RSA Data Security, SAIC, SPYRUS, Terisa Systems,
Open Market, VeriSign and VeriFone.
GlobeSet has been at the center of SET development since its introduction. The company is part of
the SET design team, has served a charter member of the SET Business Review Board and has
passed SET compatibility testing sponsored by Visa and MasterCard (May, 1997).
Founded in 1994, GlobeSet, Inc. is a privately held corporation headquartered in Austin, Texas.
Strategic equity investors include Bankers Trust, Tandem Computers, a Compaq company, and
Verity Inc. Additional information about GlobeSet can be found at globeset.com .
Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision, ``The Network is the Computer,'' has propelled Sun
Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ:SUNW) to its position as the leading provider of hardware,
software and services for establishing enterprise-wide intranets and expanding the power of the
Internet. With more than $8 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 150 countries
and on the World Wide Web at sun.com .
Note to Editors: Sun, the Sun logo, Sun Microsystems, Solaris, ``The Network is the Computer,''
and Java are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States
and in other countries.
Press announcements and other information about Sun Microsystems are available on the Internet
via the World Wide Web using a tool such as Netscape Navigator or Sun's HotJava. Type
sun.com at the URL prompt. |
