Monday, April 10, 2006

Ex-Sun exec lambasts Sun's late layoffs | CNET News.com

John Shoemaker comments on Sun(the complete version here):

Sun's reduction-in-force actions were too little, too late

"This single failure to make a tough decision to reduce headcount at Sun was, I believe, the critical event that precipitated Sun's now infamous decline," Shoemaker said.

"Pivotal among (Sun's) missteps, in my opinion, was the board of directors election to allow Sun's COO, Ed Zander, to leave. Ed Zander is a strong executive leader with a brilliant strategic and marketing mind," Shoemaker said.

Shoemaker also criticized expensive choices at Sun, such as the Santa Clara, Calif., company's $4.1 billion acquisition of StorageTek, which came to $3 billion once cash is factored out.

Sun's Java software initiative was costly, too, he said, employing more than 4,000 developers to create a product adopted by IBM and other competitors.

At the same time, the market shifted to buying large numbers of low-end servers--often running Linux...

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