Sun Microsystems, Inc.

June S. Rabi
Hydie Cruz
Josephine Tan
 TOPIC OUTLINE

I. SITUATIONER
– BACKGROUND
– PROBLEM STATEMENT
– PROBLEM ANALYSIS
» Ishikawa Diagram
» Root-Cause Analysis

II. PROJECT MANAGEMENT

FRAMEWORK(s)
» SWOT
III. BEST PRACTICES
IV. SUMMARY
V. CONCLUSIONS /
RECOMMENDATIONS
 Background

Sun Microsystems was incorporated in February
1982 by Andres Bechtolsheim, Scott McNealy,
Vinod Khosla and Bill Joy.


In first decade of Sun’s operation, the company
was initially known as a vendor of technical
workstations, which competing successfully as a
low-cost vendor
Background (cont)

• But now Sun was known as American

vendor of computers , computer
components, computer hardware product
line , and information technology services.
Background (cont)

• Sun’s major development in 1980’s set

the company entry into the computer
market.
1. Technological advances in areas as
computer networking and high-speed
computer memory system. It includes
TCP/IP, now known as the Internet
protocol suite.
Background (cont)

2. Low-cost computer components became

available, such as microprocessors,
memory and disk drives. The First
inexpensive workstation was
introduced, with the power of
minicomputer.
3. Workstation had been built using
proprietary design.
Background (cont)

• The first Sun 1 machines were shipped in

May 1982 and by August the company
was profitable.
Background---
• Sun originally used the Motorola 68000 CPU
family for the Sun-1 through Sun-3 computer
series. The Sun-1 employed a 68000 CPU, the
Sun-2 series, a 68010. The Sun-3 series was
based on the 68020
• Sun’s product-design philosophy centered on
“open system” architecture and “single board”
design
• Sun’s main competitors were Apollo Computer,
Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), and IBM
 Problem Statement
Sun Microsystems aims to answer the following
questions:
1. How to meet the average period, which is 18
months?
2. How to design an architecture that would end-
up compatibility with other Sun products?
3. How to develop products that would meet
customer’s expectations
4. How much is the market growth?
PROBLEM ANALYSIS
• Sun was constantly working against time.
The average period for an end user to
order a new Sun product was 18 months
• Sun’s approach to architectural choices
reflected its competitive strategy. By
focusing on the “fundamentals” of the
workstation, Sun tried to have faster CPU
and floating point performance, more main
memory, and better graphics and
monitors.
PROBLEM ANALYSIS

Sun redesigned and consolidated the three

products to form the Sun 3 line. The goals for
the revision were:
(1) The products had to be high-, mid-, and low-
end;
(2) Their operating differences should be
transparent to the user;
(3) Their hardware should be transparent to the
software; and
(4) They should be compatible with the later
model Sun.
PROBLEM ANALYSIS

In consolidating three different product

designs, all the features of each product
could be maintained. Compromises had to
be made, and not without difficulty, for each
engineer had a vested interest in certain
features and ideas. To facilitate these
compromises, the group set up a special
voting system.
PROBLEM ANALYSIS

In the end, the group agreed on an

architecture document outlining the
hardware and software specifications for
the three Sun 3 products, and this
document closely guarded by a separate
manager who became “the keeper of the
book,” held everyone on the development
team together.
ISHIKAWA DIAGRAM

Root-Cause Effect
Product development
Delay Obsolency

Incompatibility of
Three product-lines Not largely
acceptable
in the
market
Low speed of not well
processor acceptable in the
market
Low market growth Low ROI
Root-Cause Analysis
In technology development industry,
working against time is utmost important.
The big threat for this, is the obsolency of
the product during the endpoint aside from
that it is said that “the future is cheaper” .
Sun’s approach to architectural choices
reflected its competitive strategy. Sun
tried to have faster and more enhanced
hardware as these are the expectations of
the market.
 Sample of Market Growth for 2 years,
1984-1986

Segment 1984 1985 1986

Personal/Micro 3,554 3,868 3,554

Workstation 789 1,057 789

Minicomputer 5,870 6,395 5,870

Supermini 6,545 7,060 6,545

Mainframe 8,290 8,870 8,290

Supercomputers 520 840 520

Total Systems 25,568 25,568 25,568

SWOT Analysis

Strengths
• add value without raising price
• Sun is well known for its quality products
• With each product that Sun designed, the
development process improved
• Sun have the best hardware designers
• It also helped that Sun hired very
experienced people
Weaknesses
• Sun was constantly working against time
• The team did not hit a single target
• Difficulties on some issues like the speed of the
microprocessor
• Procurement of some components were unclear
• Workers are pressured over time.
• Change of people in the middle of the project
(like the VP)
• Weak leadership
Opportunities

• improve performance over existing entries

• result in lower cost, increased
manufacturability and savings in materials
procurement
• for having a good reputation since the last
products
• Deliver the expected quality product
Threats
• Though Sun now had such a name, it still
considered IBM and DEC among their biggest
threats
• Product obsolescence
• Given the tight schedule, it could be tempting to
skip steps – stimulating the design or not fully
evaluating new components which might result
to a low quality product
• Delayed product launching
• under a lot of external pressure because
competitors are releasing new products
BEST PRACTICES

 Be a technology leader
 You have to obsolete your own products
 Shorten the production timeline
 Know the needs of the market and with
full support
 Know the future adaptability, application,
and compatibility
CONCLUSIONS

When it comes to product delivery, Sun able

to meet the deadline.
In architecture problem, the group agreed
on an architecture document outlining the
hardware and software specifications for
the three Sun 3 products after a series of
discussions.
Sun meets the market needs and it
continued to grow.
Sun is always reading and keeping up with
technical developments.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Sun should continue to produce products
that would be compatible in all platforms
and continue to promote their product in
all fields and introduce largely their MS-
application counterparts.
Sun should be concerned in the availability
of parts.
Sun should not only focus on its reputation
as technology leader, but also its market
acceptance.