Press Release

Sun-Netscape Alliance Unveils Innovative Messaging Solutions for Service Providers, Portals, and Enterprises

Alliance Messaging Offerings Enable Business Partners and Customers to Increase Profitability and Thrive In the Net Economy

NEW YORK, May 5, 1999 - The Sun-Netscape Alliance today announced a messaging strategy that will enable service providers (SPs) and businesses to increase their profitability and thrive in the Net Economy. The Alliance will offer two messaging server products: Sun Internet Mail Server 4.0 software and Netscape Messaging Server 4.1 software.

Sun Internet Mail Server 4.0 software serves SPs, enabling them to profitably host messaging services for corporations and consumers, and lays the foundation for other services and legacy mail integration. Netscape Messaging Server 4.1 software serves enterprises and Web-based portal communities, allowing them to offer messaging services, helping them boost market share and build brand equity. Both solutions establish a new direction in the messaging industry for scalable, reliable, standards-based software.

"The Sun-Netscape Alliance is delivering products to take the Net Economy to the next level. We know that enterprises, portal communities and service providers have unique and specific messaging needs, yet share the common goal of aggressive business growth," said Mark Tolliver, president and general manager, Sun-Netscape Alliance. "We are delivering to them the most complete open messaging solution set today and providing them with the roadmap that enables strategic investments like unified messaging and wireless messaging tomorrow."

Customers Adopting Messaging Solutions From Sun-Netscape Alliance
Businesses of all types - enterprises, SPs, telcos and systems integrators are moving to the portal computing model, which includes messaging as one of its key services. Different types of businesses benefit from messaging in different ways. SPs seeking to expand their user base beyond residential customers in order to increase revenue are hosting corporate messaging applications to achieve this goal. Web-based communities are combining messaging with sponsorship text, banner ads and corporate logos to boost advertising revenue and brand recognition. As messaging becomes ubiquitous, these same Web-based communities will have the opportunity to differentiate themselves by offering enhanced services such as calendaring and unified messaging.

MegsINet, Inc., a Chicago-based telecommunications company with more than 70,000 customers, including business and residential users, turned to the Sun-Netscape Alliance for its messaging needs. "In order to continue MegsINet's track record of growth in the competitive Internet marketplace, we realized the need to differentiate ourselves from other national ISPs and telecom providers by providing applications as well as basic access," said Michael Henry, President and CEO of MegsINet. "Sun Internet Mail Server delivers the scalability and performance our business demanded to manage expectations for growth to 250,000 users by the end of next year, as well as offers key directory and management capabilities so we can increase our revenues through value-added outsourcing services."

TelePassport, a German telecommunications operator, has Sun-Netscape messaging products to offer Webmail as part of its vertical portal for professional women. It also provides Internet access, wireless phones, landline telephony, and smart cards to highly mobile consumer and business users. Offering Webmail via its portal site enables TelePassport to extend its brand to each user, while allowing subscribers to check their email from any Web-enabled device anywhere in the world.

About Sun Internet Mail Server 4.0 Software and Netscape Messaging Server 4.1 Software
The Sun-Netscape Alliance has begun working on collaborative products, starting with the introduction of Sun Internet Mail Server 4.0 and Netscape Messaging Server 4.1 software. These new products will be followed by the introduction of more fully integrated products that take a best-of-class approach and will bring additional benefits to customers.

Sun Internet Mail Server 4.0 software helps SPs extend the reach and profitability of messaging services from consumers to corporations. It provides an encrypted and reliable platform for hosting multiple corporate customers' critical messaging services and can help SPs compete more aggressively for a share of the more than $200 million annually that will be spent to outsource email for nearly 30,000 companies by 2002 (Forrester Research). The scalability and reliability of Sun Internet Mail Server 4.0 software also allows SPs to boost profit margins on existing consumer e-mail accounts. Sun Internet Mail Server 4.0 software offers everything SPs need to develop new revenue streams based on hosted corporate messaging services:

  • Virtual hosted domains - SPs can host messaging for several companies on one server, lowering TCO and allowing customers to preserve their unique corporate identities
  • Delegated management - Customers of SPs can manage day-to-day management tasks, such as user and distribution list management, resulting in lower management costs for SPs and increased flexibility for their customers
  • Provisioning - Sun Internet Mail Server 4.0 can interface with monitoring and billing applications to handle quotas and metered usage

    Netscape Messaging Server 4.1 software serves the Web-based community and portal market, where market share and brand equity is crucial. This high-performance messaging backbone provides the scalability and reliability necessary to build the loyalty that will help keep subscribers returning to portal sites. When combined with Netscape Messenger Express software it provides a scalable, full-featured Web-based email solution that allows faster delivery of messaging services through a portal or Web-based community site, including:

  • Webmail - Netscape Messenger Express and Netscape Messaging Server 4.1 combine to offer integration between a mail server, ad server and directory server to offer best-of-breed messaging for Web-based email
  • Branding - The customizable Web-based client interface allows e-mail providers to extend their brand to email users
  • Cross-platform support - Netscape Messaging Server 4.1 runs on Windows NT, Solaris, Irix, Digital UNIX, AIX and HP-UX to integrate with Web-based communitiesí existing software investments

    Both of these high-performance, highly available messaging servers provide the infrastructure necessary to build messaging into extranet and supply chain services. Their component-based architecture lays the foundation for differentiated and value-added services such as unified messaging and wireless messaging. Capacity tested to support user communities exceeding 1 million users on a single server, they offer unparalleled scalability among messaging solutions on the market today. In addition, both servers are part of a comprehensive infrastructure from the Sun-Netscape Alliance that can integrate with calendaring functions as well as legacy mail systems.

    Pricing and Availability
    Netscape Messaging Server 4.1 is expected to be available in the Spring, and Sun Internet Mail Server 4.0 is expected to be available in the Summer. Both products are expected to be priced per seat. For more information call 1-800-786-7638, prompt one, or visit http://www.sun.com/sims or http://home.netscape.com/netscape/alliance/index.html on the World Wide Web. Pricing and availability are subject to change without notice.

    About the Sun-Netscape Alliance
    America Online, Inc. and Sun Microsystems, Inc. formed the Sun-Netscape Alliance to provide easy to deploy, comprehensive enterprise and e-commerce solutions to business partners and other companies competing in today's Net Economy. The alliance product portfolio provides customers with the industry's most scalable, integrated infrastructure software and a family of production ready e-commerce applications. The products are offered on the industry's most widely available product platforms, including DEC, HP, IBM, Linux, SGI, Microsoft Windows, and Sun. The alliance software product portfolio includes messaging and calendar, collaboration, web, application, directory, and certificate servers. The alliance also offers a family of production-ready applications for e-commerce, including commerce exchange, procurement, selling, and billing.

    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 17 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," has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc., (NASDAQ "SUNW"), to its position as a leading provider of hardware, software and services for establishing enterprise-wide intranets and expanding the power of the Internet. With more than $11 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 150 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com.

    Sun, the Sun logo, Sun Microsystems, Solaris, Sun Internet Mail Server and The Network is the Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.
    Netscape is a registered trademarks of Netscape Communications Corporation in the United States and other countries. Other Netscape logos, product names, and service names are also trademarks of Netscape Communications Corporation, which may be registered in other countries. Other product and brand names are trademarks of their respective owners.