SYSTEMS

SANTA CLARA, CA -- Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW), a leader in Internet computing, announced today that its technology will be implemented by the American Hospital Association (AHA) as the platform for a new portal for use by AHA members and others in the healthcare field. Built on the Sun Open Network Environment (Sun ONE) platform -- Sun's vision, architecture, platform and expertise for developing and deploying services on demand today -- the interactive Web site will provide information and resources to the AHA's 5,000 member hospitals and will be accessible to the entire healthcare field. The portal will serve as a site that healthcare professionals can access to obtain critical data such as regulatory information (i.e., HIPAA), best practices, research, educational materials and leadership tools. Users also will be able to interact via chat rooms and will have access to technology applications for operational efficiencies and to available products and services through e-commerce applications. ``Because the healthcare field faces strict regulatory and financial challenges, any technology solutions we offer our members must provide value and enhance their ability to provide care,'' said Herman Baumann, AHA's executive director for strategic development. ``Sun will provide the ideal architecture and product portfolio to help build the AHA portal.'' ``The anticipated benefits of complying with HIPAA will encourage the healthcare field to do more and more with the Internet,'' said Murtz Kizilbash, Sun's manager of healthcare and insurance markets. ``Sun is well positioned to help the AHA and others in healthcare make this transition because our wealth of experience and our proven technology suits the field's demanding requirements for security, reliability and high-volume transactions. Our standards-based, open Sun ONE architecture enables our healthcare customers to build open platforms that provide flexibility and investment protection for the future while allowing them to interface with the legacy applications that remain so important.'' The AHA portal will leverage the broad spectrum of Sun's computing platform, including iPlanet Portal Server, iPlanet Application Server, iPlanet Directory Server, iPlanet Web Server, iPlanet Messaging Server, Sun Enterprise servers and Sun StorEdge systems running the Solaris 8 Operating Environment. Further information is available at www.sun.com/sunone