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ORLANDO, Fla., SUN IFORCE PARTNER SUMMIT -- Sun Microsystems Inc. kicks off its annual iForce Partner Summit for sales, development and delivery partners by unveiling new programs designed to enable iForce partners to profitably deliver IT solutions and help enterprise and mid-size customers create advantage from network computing. Over the next three days, more than 500 partners attending the Summit will hear about the latest Sun technologies; how to deliver innovation and value to their customers; and Sun's commitment to the iForce community and the iForce Partner Program, as shown through the new offerings and sales incentives. With more than 20 years of experience, Sun understands the key role partners play in the company's overall success," said Gary Grimes, vice president, U.S. Partner Management and Sales at Sun Microsystems. "Many partners have been investing heavily in Sun for years, and they've asked that we continue to recognize that commitment as we roll out new offerings. Through collaboration with our iForce partners, we can provide more effective customer-centric solutions that expand our mutual business opportunities." New iForce Partner Offerings Sun offers partners the power of a community dedicated to open standards, choice, reliability and increased opportunities for profitability. Following in that tradition, Sun is launching several important initiatives for sales, development and delivery partners at the iForce Partner Summit: -- The Competitive Take Out Program awards a one-time rebate to U.S.-based iForce partners that successfully replaced a competitor's platform with a Sun platform within the fourth quarter. -- The Vertical Solution Rebate Program awards partners with a rebate for winning new customers in the following vertical markets: Retail Banking, Healthcare, Life Sciences and Retail. -- Sun is also significantly expanding its Target Account Rebate Program with a new registration process and engagement model, aimed at more than 200 U.S. target accounts. -- Sun's new iForce Channel Access Program is designed to provide Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and sales partners a collaborative business-to-business approach to build revenue-generating alliances based on the core competencies and business goals of each partner. Through the program, ISVs can gain increased market opportunities for their applications and solutions, while reseller partners can expand their revenue and market opportunities by enhancing the portfolio of customer-driven solutions they deliver. Sun Helps iForce Partners Target the Mid-Market iForce partners are ideally suited to deliver vertical and horizontal solutions to mid-sized enterprises, and Sun's mid-market strategy is 100 percent partner led. Through the following new offerings, Sun and its partners can work together to provide targeted solutions that help customers reduce risk and speed time to new service: -- The iForce Specialties initiative can help iForce partners succeed in delivering tailored solutions to mid-sized enterprises in the Banking, Life Sciences and Manufacturing industries. -- For developing companies looking to acquire new technology, Sun Microsystems Finance offers the Sun ValuePlus(SM) program Business Accelerator Lease. This limited-time financing offer is designed to help businesses quickly and easily lease the latest Sun technology. -- Through June 30, 2003, qualified customers can lease top performing Sun Fire(TM) V1280 and V880 servers with no money down and no payment due until August 1, 2003. This offer is available through authorized iForce partners. New Opportunities from Sun Services Sun is announcing a new enhancement to its Authorized Sales and Referral Program (ASRP) to drive more services delivery through its iForce partners. Beginning today, the referring partner for specified consulting services will be given priority over all service delivery organizations, including Sun's own consulting group, for delivering those services. This new feature of the ASRP program was developed under a new Services Partnering Architecture that enables Sun's iForce partners to do business with Sun more profitably, simply and with greater recognition. Using this new architecture, Sun Services -- Sun's consulting, training and support organization -- will work with its partners to co-develop services that leverage Sun's strategy for capturing intellectual capital (including best practices, patterns, blueprints and methodologies) for use by partners and customers. In addition, Sun partners who refer, sell or deliver Sun services will be eligible for Sun's recognition and incentive programs. These include the "Top Sun Services Support Partner" and "Top Sun Services Consulting Partner" awards as part of the inaugural iForce Partner Excellence Awards, and the Sun iForce Rewards, rewarding top partners for sales and referrals of services engagements. Strategic iForce Partner Offering Gains Momentum Seventeen sales partners have completed the requirements necessary to become Strategic iForce Partners, allowing them to take advantage of additional Sun rebates and executive sponsorship. Applied Computer Solutions; BASIS; Commercial Data Systems; Corporate Technologies; Dewpoint; The Ergonomic Group, Inc.; GTSI Corp.; Helio Solutions; Innovative Systems Design; MSC.Software; Networked Information Systems; NEXL Network Systems; Perfect Order; Pomeroy IT Solutions; Star Solutions; Strategic Technologies and World Wide Technology are the first Strategic iForce Partners named since Sun streamlined its iForce Partner program for sales partners last year. The Strategic iForce Partner Program recognizes and rewards those partners that have made extraordinary investments in building a Sun business infrastructure, including meeting a minimum Sun revenue requirement and achieving a number of core certifications. More information on this program is available at http://www.sun.com/partners/ . Sun Awards Innovative iForce Partners On Wednesday evening, Sun will announce the winners of its inaugural iForce Partner Excellence Awards, honoring those partners that have excelled in providing innovative solutions, customer-driven products and superior service. More information is available at http://events-at-sun.com/summit2003/awards.html .