Sun Microsystems and America Online Name Sun Executive Mark Tolliver President And General Manager of Companies' Strategic E-Commerce Alliance
Former Netscape COO Barry Ariko Named Executive Vice President and Deputy General Manager of Strategic Alliance
Easy-to-Deploy, End-to-End Enterprise and E-Commerce Solutions to Help Businesses Thrive in the Net Economy
March 24, 1999 02:08 PM
PALO ALTO, CA, and DULLES, Va., March 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Sun Microsystems, Inc. SUNW , a leader in network computing products and services, and America Online, Inc. AOL , the world's leading provider of branded interactive services, today announced that Sun executive Mark Tolliver will serve as President and General Manager of their strategic alliance to provide easy-to-deploy, end-to-end enterprise and e-commerce solutions to business partners and other companies competing in today's Net Economy.
In addition, Barry Ariko, AOL's new Senior Vice President, Netscape Enterprise Group, and formerly Netscape's Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, will also hold the title of Executive Vice President and Deputy General Manager of the strategic alliance. Steve Savignano, AOL's new Senior Vice President, Netscape Enterprise Group, and formerly Netscape's Senior Vice President and General Manager for its E-commerce Applications Products division, and Stuart Wells, Sun's Vice President for its Network Software Group, were also given the titles of Senior Vice Presidents of the strategic alliance.
Announced in November 1998, the strategic alliance will provide complete turnkey solutions, modular software flexibility and consulting services to enable e-commerce partners and other companies to put their businesses online quickly and scale rapidly to meet consumer demand. The companies' development and marketing agreement draws on the complementary strengths of both companies -- America Online's industry-leading consumer reach and its suite of Netscape enterprise software and services, combined with Sun's expertise and global reach as an enterprise software and network computing leader.
Ed Zander, Sun's Chief Operating Officer, said: "To deliver what our customers want, both Sun and America Online made sure that our strategic alliance has our best people, our best technology and the autonomy it needs for quick decisions and responsiveness. Mark Tolliver is a seasoned industry executive who has developed strong relationships with customers and partners and managed large organizations with great results. Our customers and business partners will benefit from the best and easiest way to deploy solutions for the Net Economy."
Bob Pittman, President and Chief Operating Officer of America Online, said: "Every company in the world is realizing that they need an online presence to benefit their business, and they are looking to the market leader to provide solutions. This alliance is positioned to give companies exactly what they need: a consumer audience, the necessary tools, software and services to take their business online, and the expertise to help them succeed. The alliance team we've selected has the right mix of experience and skills to lead the industry in e-commerce solutions for businesses competing in the Net Economy."
Mr. Tolliver said: "We have an exceptional team of people, great products and the most exciting market space in the industry. We're strengthening our ability to provide development, professional services, sales and support, and as we do so, it's our goal to be an even stronger partner to our current and new customers worldwide."
Mr. Tolliver is a computer industry veteran with more than 23 years of experience. Prior to assuming his role as President and General Manager of the alliance, he served as President of Sun's Consumer and Embedded division. He has been with Sun for five years and was previously an executive at MasPar Computer Corporation and at the Hewlett-Packard Company. A former Oracle Corporation executive, Mr. Ariko has served as Netscape's COO and has headed up its worldwide sales and strategic partnerships since last August. He will lead the sales, professional services and support teams for the alliance.
Mr. Savignano managed Netscape's e-commerce software applications and previously was an executive at Actra Corporation. He will lead the e-commerce applications products team for the alliance. Dr. Wells, an 11-year Sun veteran, has managed Sun's development of e-commerce, messaging and security products. He will lead the infrastructure products team for the alliance.
The Companies said that more information about the strategic alliance will be made available next week.
About America Online, Inc.
Founded in 1985, America Online, Inc., based in Dulles, Virginia, is the world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies, and e-commerce services. America Online, Inc. operates: two worldwide Internet services, America Online, with more than 16 million members, and CompuServe, with approximately 2 million members; several leading Internet brands including ICQ and Digital City, Inc.; the Netscape Netcenter and AOL.COM portals; and the Netscape Navigator and Communicator browsers. Through its strategic alliance with Sun Microsystems, the Company develops and offers easy-to-deploy, end-to-end e-commerce and enterprise solutions for companies operating in the Net Economy.
About Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision, "The Network Is The Computer(TM)" has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc., 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 $10 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 150 countries and on the World Wide Web at sun.com.
SOURCE Sun Microsystems, Inc.
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