“We will certainly acquire more companies in the Israeli market,” said Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq: SUNW) VP customer networked services (CNS) Mike Harding, during a lighting trip to Israel following the company’s acquisition of Israeli start-up Aduva, announced six weeks ago. Sources inform ''Globes'' that Harding also used his visit to look at further acquisitions of companies in Israel.
The Aduva acquisition is not the first substantial move by Sun in the Israeli market. According to Harding, the latest acquisition was a key addition to the communications services that Sun Microsystems offers its clients. “We are very excited by this acquisition,” he said. “It will enable us to enter a market that will give us the opportunity to offer the software as a service. This was an interesting opportunity for us since our Israeli R&D center is important to us and this acquisition will enable us to consolidate it. “
Harding’s enthusiasm stems primarily from the added value that Sun Microsystems will gain from Aduva’s technology. “Aduva’s technology covered a real hole. Our costs for maintaining our customers’ servers are substantial. Customers have reported an expense of five hours a month for configuring each server. The cost for big companies with server farms containing hundreds of thousands of servers, would be phenomenal. Aduva’s technology will enable configuration time to be reduced to 15 minutes a month,” explained Harding.
By integrating Aduva’s technology, Sun Microsystems will be able to extend its services by remote update of software on organizational servers. According to Harding, the acquisition of Aduva will enable Sun Microsystems to also offer its remote update services to customers using servers operated by other versions of the “Solaris” operating system.
Sun Microsystems’ plans for the Israeli market do not end with Aduva, although it will become a key part of the company’s operations in Israel. Harding added that Sun Microsystems planned a further substantial increase in the size of its Israeli R&D center, on top of the addition of the Aduva team (35 people of the 120 strong workforce). As a result, the role of Sun Microsystems’ Israeli R&D center manager Michal Geva will be expanded slightly and she will also assume responsibility for integrating Sun Microsystems’ new technology.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on April 4, 2006
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