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October 2, 2001 — (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — WorldCom (worldcom.com), the data and communications provider, and Sun Microsystems, Inc. (sun.com), has announced an agreement
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to jointly market and promote global hosting product and service offerings
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for enterprise customers. Sun will also become WorldCom’s provider of UNIX
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system-based hardware and software for its global network of data centers.
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Under the joint marketing and sales agreement, WorldCom and Sun will team on
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sales opportunities, leveraging the combined capabilities, products and
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services of both companies. “This agreement enables WorldCom and Sun
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customers to rely on the combined strengths of two Internet pioneers that
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will deliver the advanced networking and hosting technologies they need with
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solid confidence and maximum value,” said Ron McMurtrie, vice president of
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WorldCom global e-services.
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WorldCom offers its customers access to the secure, high-performance Sun
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platform in its managed hosting data centers in the United States, the
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United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Japan. The company will support Sun
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servers and storage running on the robust SolarisT Operating Environment, as
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well as iPlanetT Web Server software from iPlanet E-Commerce Solutions, a
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Sun-Netscape Alliance. Sun is also providing consulting, service and
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support to help meet the availability standards WorldCom customers expect.
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Additionally, the agreement allows WorldCom to serve as a reseller of Sun
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hardware and software to its Internet co- location customers.
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In related news, WorldCom’s portfolio of managed hosting services has earned
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the SunToneSM Certified quality “seal of approval” from the SunTone
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Certification and Branding Program.
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Led by Sun, the SunTone program is a collaborative industry initiative
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providing customers of Web-enabled services and applications with means to
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identify providers meeting the high industry standards for excellence in
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infrastructure, reliability, performance, scalability, security and
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availability. SunTone certification notifies customers that WorldCom is a
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source for high-quality managed hosting services.
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Despite these developments, however, WorldCom yesterday said that its data,
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Internet and international unit planned to cut about 1,000 jobs, or about 10
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percent of its European workforce.
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“It stems from reduced capital expenditures anticipated from the completion
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of our international networks as well as the streamlining of duplicative
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staff functions in multiple countries,” a WorldCom spokesman told Reuters.
