Sun Tries Subscription Software Pricing

Sequoia writes "According to this article, 'The company's new pricing model for its systems will be based on a company's employee count, as declared in a company's annual filings with government regulators. Sun will charge $100 an employee for a single package that includes an application server, a Web portal and security software, among other components -- all of which Sun executives say will work together in a more integrated fashion than they did previously.'" Sun's press information is a little more informative.

Comments

Re:Sun needs your mon

[molarmass192]

I hate to break it to you but if Sun had imposed runtime license fees on Java, it would have died a quick death from the start. Sun does make money from Java and it's primarily from certifications to use various Java labels like "J2EE" and "Pure Java". They also make money on books and J2ME runtime licenses.

Re:All Employees

[OscarGunther]

I would imagine that companies with large workforces that don't actually go anywhere near a computer would lose out on a deal like this.

No problem. Companies in your scenario would opt to use traditional pricing instead. Sun is making a statement about its desired role in the IT food chain (as an integrator), without relinquishing its position as a parts supplier.

I can see how headcount pricing would encourage a company to move everyone onto the platform. As long as you're paying for it, why not have everyone use it and bring down the per-seat cost as close to $100 as possible? And the price point presumably undercuts Microsoft's bundle. So, IT wins by reducing the cost of infrastructure and Sun wins by increasing revenue and market share.

Anyway, that's Sun's story. It's true, as someone else noted, that a Linux integrator can offer the same stack for $100 per seat less than Sun. I imagine Sun's response would be that (1) they're stack is better integrated than the comparable Linux stack and (2) they don't have an ulterior motive in trying to sell you consulting services for support. (Those of you who deal with Sun can tell me if the latter point is accurate.)

Re:You can't make money by giving stuff away

[tedgyz]

Ummmm. The last time we tried to buy some Sun servers, they were pretty freakin' expen$ive! If you aren't turning a profit off $1M systems, then you have too much dead-weight. That's what happened to DEC - too many chiefs and not enough rowers.

Re:You can't make money by giving stuff away

[pmz]

If I spend $500,000 on a server with the hardware to support 4000 users, I damn sure dont want to spend another 400,000 dollars on licensing (basically nothing, air, a slip of paper).

Er, you just provided for a 4000 employee company with under a million dollars of hardware and software. What is your complaint, again?