InternetSun Bets on Channel Strategy Revamp

Giving its resellers more of the action and room to grow is part of Sun's plan to give its overall business a boost.

Sun Microsystems has initiated some changes in its channel program designed to help support partners and increase sales, something it desperately needs to do to get the top line growing in its quarterly earnings reports. The two-pronged plan is designed to put more emphasis on Sun's reseller partners, rather than involve the company directly, according to Tom Wagner, vice president of the North American partner sales organization. Two-thirds of Sun's business comes from channel partners and the company is looking to increase that percentage. The first part of the program is the Partner First model, where Sun (NASDAQ: JAVA) will turn over the reigns of selling to customers. Right now, the company has sales reps calling on customers jointly with partners. Under the new plan, the company will stick to directly servicing the top 300 accounts only. Below that, all business will be sold or transacted through business partners. That means Sun partners will be servicing newer accounts, since no one comes on board as a top level account. RELATED ARTICLES IDC: Slow Sales For Servers Make or Break Time for Sun Sun Stock Dims on Weak Fiscal Q3 For more stories on this topic: "We recognize that the path to growth is acquiring new customers," Wagner told InternetNews.com. "We enjoy a fairly nice share of the wallet in our top accounts, but recognize that to grow the business, bringing new logos into Sun is paramount... [ Read more on www.internetnews.com ]

InternetTop SSD Performance Comes at a Price

Texas Memory Systems debuts a RAM-based product that's big and powerful, but definitely not cheap.

InternetLive blog: Yahoo discusses second quarter (CNET)

CNET - Yahoo's financial results came in lower than analyst expectations for revenue and net income, but the stock is trading higher after hours. Here are highlights from what Chief Executive Jerry Yang, President Sue Decker, and Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen have to say about the second quarter during the company's conference call.