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Technology Stocks : All About Sun Microsystems -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: micromike who wrote (7767)	2/16/1998 6:05:00 PM
From: cfimx	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 64865

Mike, This is my answer. I love this one!! FedEx Moves Away From NC Approach -- Courier focuses on Windows-centric strategy with PCs and terminals Mary Hayes with Stuart J. Johnston A closely watched pioneer of thin-client computing is moving toward a strategy that would deal a giant blow to proponents of Java-based network computers such as Sun Microsystems. Federal Express Corp., after months of testing different thin-client machines-including Sun's JavaStations-for a planned deployment of up to 75,000 desktops, is now focusing on a Microsoft Windows-oriented approach that includes both PCs and Windows-based terminals. "We haven't found any NC product that would meet our needs," says Dennis Jones, executive VP and CIO for FDX Corp., a newly formed holding company for FedEx. "With PC prices coming down to where NC prices were a year ago, we may very well choose PCs to serve in a thin-client role." FedEx last week was set to ink an initial deal with Hewlett-Packard, its main PC supplier, for up to 1,000 HP PCs and Wyse Technologies-built Windows terminals. FedEx says it's not ready to award a contract for the full deployment, which sources say could be worth as much as $75 million. But several factors have caused FedEx to move away from Java-based NCs toward the Windows camp. Microsoft is delivering tools such as the Zero Administration Kit for Windows 95 and Windows NT that FedEx expects will cut PC management costs. Low-end PC prices are falling well below $1,000-less than some Java-capable NCs. Several NC vendors, including Wyse, now plan to ship Windows-based terminals that will work with Microsoft's forthcoming Windows Terminal Server NT software, which also lets PCs act as terminals. Also, some NC efforts, including Sun's, have been delayed. "We've been shooting at a moving target" with NCs, says Rob Carter, FedEx's corporate VP and chief technology officer. "Meanwhile, the PC world has moved into a positive direction in terms of pricing and manageability." Huge Effort It's a big shift in strategy for FedEx. Last fall, FedEx chose Sun Microsystems, Wyse, Neoware Systems, and Network Computing Devices to participate in pilot tests to replace aging PCs and dumb terminals in a broader technology plan called Project Grid. By 2001, FedEx plans to have replaced all of its mainframes with HP and Sun Unix servers and hundreds of NT servers, supporting up to 75,000 clients. The thin-client architecture would centralize corporate applications on the server, reducing administration and software installation costs. Initially, NCs seemed a perfect fit. But now, FedEx is having a hard time seeing the advantage of a Java-based NC over a PC equipped with a Java virtual machine. "A PC is a Java terminal, and it's also a Windows-based terminal," says Jones. FedEx is looking at Windows terminals-which can cost $500 or less-for users who need only to access custom applications running on servers, and low-end or diskless PCs for users who also need to run packaged and Java-based applications on the desktop. Those clients would be supported by NT servers; FedEx is considering both Citrix Systems' server software for supporting Windows terminals and Microsoft's Terminal Server, based on Citrix's WinFrame and due to ship by mid-year. FedEx's new direction is bad news for Sun, which hoped a big deal would validate the JavaStation, which has been delayed several times because of problems with its JavaOS. "Right now, Java computers are not ready," says Gartner Group analyst Tom Austin. Sun says the JavaStation will ship by the end of March-18 months after it was announced. Another blow to Sun's chances at FedEx is the fact that JavaStations can't boot from NT servers-a FedEx requirement. Sun plans to produce software to address that shortcoming this year, says Jim Hebert, GM of embedded systems software at Sun. But that may be too late for FedEx. "We don't want to lose sight of what the Java NC could mature into," says Carter. "But if we were to make a decision at this point, we would choose PCs to mitigate our risk." Copyright (c) 1998 CMP Media Inc.