APPLICATIONS

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Building on its robust alternative to the costly mainframe environment, Sun Microsystems, Inc. today announced new upgrades to its mainframe rehosting software, Sun Mainframe Transaction Processing(TM) Software 8.0 (SunMTP 8.0) and Sun Mainframe Batch Manager(TM) Software 10.0 (SunMBM 10.0). The enhanced offerings will provide enterprises even deeper cost savings, tighter security and greater functionality when migrating legacy applications from a mainframe to Sun servers running the robust Solaris(TM) Operating Environment. Through the SunMTP and the SunMBM software, Sun's mainframe rehosting solutions help enable customers to run existing mainframe CICS, COBOL and batch applications -- commonly found in commercial banking and insurance, manufacturing, retail and government -- virtually unmodified but in a contemporary computing environment. The following are among the new product features offered through SunMTP 8.0 and SunMBM 10.0 software: -- Mainframe-like security without mainframe costs -- Higher levels of availability enabled by Sun(TM) Cluster 3.0 capabilities -- Enhanced interoperability between business-critical Java-based applications and legacy programs -- Flexibility to administer the system from virtually anywhere on the network "Sun's mainframe rehosting solution has proven to be one of the most cost effective IT decisions Transamerica Life Canada has made in recent years, saving us more than 50 percent per year in mainframe system operations expenses and improving the performance of our applications by 25 percent," said Naj Hirani, CIO of Transamerica Life Canada. "Sun's already robust mainframe rehosting solution has been helping enterprises keep pace in a modern, networked data center environment," said Vernon Turner, group vice president, global enterprise server solutions of IDC. "The improved security, availability and Java connectivity features announced today give companies currently locked into a mainframe more reasons to consider Sun's safe and cost-effective alternative." The Sun Fire(TM) and Sun Enterprise(TM) servers, combined with Sun's mainframe rehosting software and Sun Professional Services' mainframe rehosting specialists, allow customers to maintain the skill sets of their IT staff, saving considerable time and expense, while providing a strong alternative to legacy mainframe infrastructures. To date, Sun has migrated more than 500 million lines of COBOL code off the mainframe environment.