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Sun Tries Subscription Software Pricing

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the headcount dept.

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.

7 of 246 comments (clear)

  1. You can't make money by giving stuff away by 192939495969798999 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I think Sun may be one of the last companies to realiza that giving a product away doesn't make you any money. I work for Sun, and let me tell you, they are a great bunch of engineers. However, their ability to turn those awesome engineering projects into cash is limited at best. Perhaps if they start charging some serious money for stuff, then things will change. Let's hope that Sun can get back on track!

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    stuff |
  2. not as MS-ish as it sounds by jbellis · · Score: 5, Interesting
    We're all familiar with a certain Redmond-based company's efforts to extort more money from corporate desktop clients with a strategy like this. But, if you read the article, Sun isn't forcing you into this if you don't think it makes sense for you:
    Mr. Loiacono said Sun would continue to sell individual pieces of the server package, but that most companies would reap big savings from what he called the "happy meal" approach.

    Sun's pricing strategy moves away from the common industry method that typically considers complex factors like the number of network processors, a network's storage capacity and even the size of a company's customer base. Those many variables can make it hard for any corporation to predict what its software licensing fee will be in a given quarter, Mr. Loiacono said. Sun's all-in-one pricing, he noted, gives corporate customers more predictability.

  3. All Employees by RazzleFrog · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What's interesting is that it is based on the number of employees per the company's annual report and not based on actual users. 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. Manufacturing companies come to mind. I work for a company of 1700 employees. That means $170,000 in license fees. Anybody know what that would hav translate to under the old scheme?

  4. Only and underdog could use this pricing strategy by gojomo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If Sun were ever to be in a dominant market position, this sort of "bundling" would likely be considered actionably anticompetitive, like the MS OEM licenses which charged PC makers for every PC shipped, whether it had an MS OS or not.

  5. Re:StarOffice price increase by Sylvius · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I remember reading an interview with Scott where he said giving away StarOffice was killing it. CIOs were too nervous to do company-wide transition to a free office suite because they feared that Sun could just abandon it/stop supporting it on a whim. Hence, the spin-off of OpenOffice. By charging an nominal amount (comapred to MS Office) for StarOffice, Sun has given it a "corporate legitimacy" that gives IT departments reassurance that Sun is committed to supporting it.
    They are both great products, they are both far cheaper than MS Office, but they appeal to different groups with different needs, so one won't kill the other.

  6. Far out! by r_j_prahad · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This could be great news for my 501(c)(3) non-profit customer who technically has zero employees; there is nobody on the payroll, they are all volunteers by definition. I haven't read the whole of the offer yet, so I do not know if they are giving Solaris away for free or not. And anyway my non-profit site is happy with Linux, so free Solaris is not going to save them an appreciable amount of money. But when your revenue stream is primarily pocket change, every penny counts.

  7. Sounds like a gold mine to me... by cybrthng · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Coming from a sysadmin trying to manage an infrastructure, a turn-key solution like this from sun is a HUGE bargain.

    We pay more in PER USER fees for a standard Application server environment than what Sun wants for the entire "shebang".

    For small businesses who focus on unix solutions i couldn't imagine a better way to "enterprise" your business.

    Pushing this will push java, will push sun hardware, will push sun certified solutions, will push logo branding, will push certifications and that will push the company forward.

    PS, I do have a few V880's, 280r's, Netra X1's, V240's and lots of other sun equipment. So this is good news :)