INDUSTRY

Internet2 and Sun Microsystems, an Internet2 corporate partner, today announced that they have signed an agreement under which the more than 200 Internet2 university members and affiliates will be offered a unique annual, renewable subscription for nearly all of Sun's software products. This will allow the university members to more easily and affordably create a seamless, cost-effective digital campus. The subscription-based approach is a new way to price technology that is designed to save university members money in software deployment and services costs, while providing mobility, enabling collaboration and increasing access. The net result is the creation of a new model of computing which Sun calls the Digital Campus. The comprehensive Sun software technologies available to the schools include Sun's development tools, enterprise and desktop technologies, grid computing technologies and operating systems. More than three million students, staff and faculty at Internet2 universities can benefit from Sun's open standards-based software solutions in the classroom, at home, and in research and development projects. "Several Internet2 member universities have been seeking alternate software licensing models to realistically manage the increasing complexity of the IT infrastructure landscape. Sun has always been a strong partner for higher education, and is once again proving its commitment with this agreement," said Michael Gettes, senior technology architect and strategist at Duke University, an Internet2 University member. "Sun's software line has components that both support and enhance Internet2's middleware efforts, application development, critical services infrastructure (e-mail, calendaring and Web servers), research computing, and desktop applications. These components help to fill out an open standards-based infrastructure for the academic, administrative, and research enterprises of a university. "Sun and Internet2 have also agreed to develop a Network of Expertise (NOE) initiative. The intent is to provide Internet2 university members with a cost-effective first-line support mechanism. The NOEs will be online resource centers where IT administrators can access and collaborate on solutions and share best practices with member universities. "This agreement is what building the Digital Campus is all about. Predictable and affordable, easy to deploy software, combined with the support and services through the Network of Expertise will make it possible for schools to focus their budgets where they should be -- building better education resources not solving complex, expensive computing problems," said Kim Jones, vice president, Global Education and Research at Sun. "Through this partnering with Sun Microsystems, we are providing Internet2 members yet another opportunity to innovate with advanced networking capabilities," said Douglas Van Houweling, president and CEO of Internet2. "We look forward to creating similar agreements for the products and services provided by more of our corporate members in order to encourage collaboration and benefit higher education." Catering to the demands of the education community, Sun software products provide a streamlined distribution model. The portfolio includes software for enterprise directory management; application/integration servers and messaging; application development; security; desktop applications; e-mail, calendar and collaboration; operating systems; systems administration and Internet technologies. Led by more than 200 U.S. universities, working with industry and government, Internet2 develops and deploys advanced network applications and technologies for research and higher education, accelerating the creation of tomorrow's Internet. Internet2 recreates the partnerships among academia, industry, and government that helped foster today's Internet in its infancy. For more information about Internet2, visit: http://www.internet2.edu/.