DALLAS and SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- ACS (NYSE:ACS) , a premier provider of business process and information technology outsourcing solutions, and a member of the Sun iForce(SM) partner community, and Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ:SUNW) today announced a new alliance to provide outsourced utility computing solutions to Global 1000 companies worldwide. Under the agreement, Sun will provide flexible network computing resources on a pay-for-use basis to ACS. In turn, ACS will offer outsourced information technology (IT) services to clients with utility-based pricing. ACS will be able to better match the IT resources provided to clients on a dynamic basis, to their varying business needs. As a key element to this alliance, ACS will be able to offer a specified commitment to lowering total costs of IT sourcing to its clients. "ACS has been building a variety of leading-edge solutions for our clients," stated Don Liedtke, COO of ACS Commercial Solutions. "This new alliance with Sun is one of the ways we're working to provide true utility computing business models to provide better value for our clients." Sun and ACS have created an integrated set of hardware, software and services that can be scaled dynamically to create the optimal systems to meet computing demand. Sun will provide to ACS computing capacity as needed, and ACS' clients will be able to scale computing resources at specified intervals, paying only for what they use based on a standard unit of pricing. Sun will also provide a system technology refresh to further reduce spikes in acquisition costs and maintain state-of-the-art performance. This innovative sourcing model will allow ACS and its clients to: -- Meet short-term or seasonal computing demands more cost-effectively -- Predict resource costs through the unit pricing approach -- Meet SLAs more reliably -- Maintain current technology systems better -- Streamline their technology lifecycle management process of acquisition, support, refresh, and retirement "Sun and ACS are teaming to provide an exciting and innovative way to help clients more efficiently architect, build and evolve their network computing resources," stated Patricia C. Sueltz, executive vice president, Sun Services. "It's at the heart of Sun's strategy to work with best-in-class partners to give the client the most optimal and flexible network computing solution. Sun will also continue to drive product innovation, such as its recently released temporary capacity on demand technology, to enhance that flexibility and keep the clients in control of their businesses."