The best of enemies now the best of friends
The best of enemies now the best of friends
Dec 3, 2004: What was once a slugfest between Sun Microsystems and Microsoft has now by all accounts turned into a lovefest, according to executives at the respective companies.
During a conference call to discuss the progress the companies have made since they signed their recent 10-year collaboration agreement, Sun's chief technical officer (CTO), John Papadopoulos gave off the air of a newlywed still radiating the post-nuptial honeymoon glow.
"Our relationship with Microsoft is going very well and our projects are on track. I'm very pleased with how we're working with Microsoft. I think, as a relationship goes, this is a 180-degree U-turn. Nine months ago we were slashing each other's tyres, now we're helping fix each other's flats."
Microsoft vice president of consumer strategy and partnerships, Hank Vigil was slightly less ebullient about the partnership, but said the recently formed partnership had been working to very good effect.
"Clearly Microsoft and Sun will continue to compete robustly in the market, but we will also co-operate in important ways to the benefit of the joint customers and the broader industry at large.
"The companies have worked to establish great communication at all levels from regular meetings at the executive level to in-depth working sessions with our engineers. Each company has dedicated relationship managers who meet weekly with their counterparts to check progress and resolve issues, and our architects and technical teams are meeting on a weekly basis. There have been 15 executive meetings in the past five months. Two dozen engineers are meeting face-to-face monthly to discuss specific technical issues. Top executives have also reached out to customers to help the companies focus their work together on what customers need."
Despite expressing his pleasure at the progress made since the collaboration agreement was reached, Papadopoulos was quick to dispel any thoughts anyone may have harboured about Sun no longer competing as aggressively with Microsoft.
"Absolutely not. At the end of the day Sun and Microsoft will still be competing on a number of fronts and are committed to continuing product innovation. However, the nature of our competition will change to rely more on the attributes of the products themselves than on more intangible elements," he said.
Related Article: