Sun Microsystems Boosts Partner Advantage Program with New Marketing and Business Incentives

Delivers on Partner-first Commitment by Expanding Channel Partners’ Resources, Capabilities and Customer Reach
SANTA CLARA, CA.-As part of Sun Microsystems’ (NASDAQ: JAVA) commitment to its Partner-first strategy, today it announced enhancements to its Sun Partner Advantage Program that will provide new resources to accelerate business growth and momentum for channel partners in the US. The company augmented its Partner Growth Fund (PGF) with a new Demand Generation component to enable partners to earn additional marketing funds and bolstered its incentive program for those partners that are broadening Sun’s footprint by selling Sun solutions to new customers.

The Demand Generation module expands the PGF into a comprehensive program architecture. With the new module partners can easily determine the amount of funding that is available to them based on their Sun Partner Advantage membership level and plan their spending accordingly to increase resources and capabilities for meeting customer needs. Partners will earn funds for marketing programs based on a percentage of their revenue. PGF was first introduced in 2007 as a progressive accrual program that provided partners funding for the critical elements of running their businesses, including demonstration equipment purchases, with accruals based on a percentage of revenue.

“Sun is committed to driving demand for our partner community, which is essential to our pathway to dynamic growth,” said Wendy Wheeler, vice president, North American Field Marketing, Sun Microsystems. “We are always looking to augment the portfolio of resources we provide to our partners. With the marketing and new business incentives, Sun is making it easier for our US-based channel partners to increase their revenue generating opportunities and expand Sun’s presence in the marketplace.”

The New Business Incentive offers US-based Sun channel partners an up-front discount on Sun product sales into new Sun accounts. This change will benefit the sales representatives at Sun partner companies by moving the incentive to the front end of the sales transaction. Sun also announced an overall simplification of the Sun Partner Advantage Program’s rebate structure in the US to align rebates with Sun’s product portfolio and an additional New Business Rebate. The New Business Rebate is designed to reward partners for pursuing new customer opportunities that Sun has historically not sold to, therefore allowing the partner to continue to invest new resources and opportunities for Sun products and offerings.

“With the additional resources, we are confident that we will help Sun reach new customers and markets and grow the overall business,” said Scott Gruendler, President and CEO, Sigma Solutions. “The enhancements to the program provide the right type of incentives to our company and sales team to make a positive impact. We applaud Sun’s continued improvements to their channel partner programs.”

The Sun Partner Advantage Program is designed for partners seeking to differentiate themselves in the marketplace with innovative solutions based on Sun technology. The program enables Sun and its partners to deliver end-to-end IT solutions to our customers and grow profitably together. The Sun Partner Advantage Program is a flexible, predictable program based on progressive membership levels, where partners are rewarded for increased commitment, performance and value. For more information about the Sun Partner Advantage Program, please visit www.sun.com/partners

In addition to the PGF, the Sun Partner Advantage Program also provides members with rebates and discounts, a comprehensive partner directory, syndicated catalogs and access to the Try and Buy Program. The program enables businesses to test Sun’s leading products in their own IT before making a purchasing decision. In the past two years, Sun has shipped more than 11,000 free trial systems. For more information on Sun’s Try and Buy Program, visit www.sun.com/tryandbuy