[supernova] Jonathan Schwartz

The new CEO of Sun says that some workloads are not outpacing Moore’s Law — SAP, CRM, for example — and Sun is not going to chase those applications. Sun wants to find the apps that need more hw. He says 100% of companies want the tech that will let them connect with their customers. So Sun has to pick and choose. The companies that look at IT as a cost center are not as important to Sun as companies that look at IT as a way of growing their business. [Don’t tell Nicholas Carr!]

He lists commodity companies: Exxon, Citi Group, Google. Commodities are ok business, if you’re able to leverage R&D. [I wish our Net providers would understand the commodity markets can be profitable.]

Kevin: Where do you prioritize your R&D?
Jonathan: For one thing, on making our systems energy and space efficient. Security and provisioning. They are not going to build end-user products. They’re going to drive standards. “I’m not worried about demand. I’m worried about intercepting demand.”

Kevin: Web 2.0?
Jonathan: It’s no longer a read-only Web. [And it never was.] All client devices will be functionally equivalent, distinguished by form factor. Companies can no longer design products from on high. We’re putting consumer reviews of our products on our site even if they criticize because I’d rather have them do it in front of us…

Kevin: Last year you said every CEO should have a blog. Not a lot do. Why not?
Jonathan: Five years ago, most CEOs had their admins print out their email. The job of a leader is to communicate.

What’s the core R&D for Sun? “The era of custom hardware is on its way out.” Make sure that every device that connects to the network can interact with it. [Tags: supernova jonathan_schwartz sun]

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