Sun Microsystems is encouraging innovation by investing in local independent software vendors (ISVs) as well as providing assistance to help make their businesses successful.
This is according to Jos Nickmans, channel manager at Sun Microsystems sub-Saharan Africa. He says a key differentiator with the Sun ISV programme is that Sun is actively contributing towards improving the business success of ISVs, particularly through assistance with marketing and revenue generation. "The days of resource-strapped ISVs having to do it all: develop their software and sell it - are long gone.
"The way forward is to partner with innovators like Sun that have the business and technical competence and capacity to assist. By partnering with Sun, ISVs have access to a sophisticated brand based on performance and reliability, while combining IT and business," he says.
Nickmans says that by partnering with Sun, ISVs will not only benefit from Sun's direct assistance, but they will be able to differentiate their service offering and develop synergy with other Sun partners - including developers and volume resellers if need be.
He points out that ISVs have more to offer than software. Their ISV customers are now buying into the concept of paying for support services, such as training and product registration.
"ISVs in the past were focused largely on generating revenue purely through product development and sales. They should now focus more on providing services - at a five-to-one ratio - to complement their products," he says.
"Sun's goal is to provide ISVs with the right mix of skills and business value through the Sun Developer Network," he adds.
Sun is also encouraging innovation among ISVs by making the source code for the Solaris 10 OS freely available, as well as granting the global open source community access to more than 1 600 patent innovations associated with the Solaris operating system.
"All this takes the concept of a Sun-ISV partnership forward. It offers tangible benefits to both parties," he concludes.
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