Sun Microsystems Expands Commitment to U.S. Government With Key Investments

1 January 1970

Continuing its commitment to the United States Government, Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) announced the appointment of two key executives. Bill Vass, formerly Sun's Chief Information Officer (CIO), was named President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Sun Microsystems Federal, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sun Microsystems, Inc., and Anthony Robbins was hired as Vice President of Federal Sales. These executives join Scott McNealy, Chairman of Sun Federal, in continuing to help government organizations solve their unique challenges through sustainable computing and military grade built-in security products like the Trusted Solaris(TM) OS, identity management software and the latest industry leading Sun Fire(TM) systems and StorageTek(TM) solutions.

"From StorageTek archive platforms, to the open source Solaris 10 operating system and SunRay thin clients, Sun's products and technologies are at the center of mission critical deployments throughout US government civilian and military agencies," said Jonathan Schwartz, chief executive officer at Sun Microsystems. "Bill and Anthony redouble the commitment to government established by Scott and me, adding top talent and focus. Now is the time for all technology companies to place their priorities on evolving the safety, security and innovation available to our government."

Prior to joining Sun, Vass held key positions across the government sector, bringing extensive experience to his new role as president and COO of Sun Federal. Most notably, Vass served as a director within the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Office of the CIO. In this capacity, he was responsible for the IT strategy deployment and execution for three sectors of the Department of Defense's (DoD) IT infrastructure: DoD Software Management, CIO Pentagon IT infrastructure Oversight and Architecture and Network Operations for the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Upon joining Sun in 2001, Vass worked directly for the CIO before assuming the role in 2004, taking on all aspects of the company's global IT infrastructure and line-of-business application development, support and maintenance including information service delivery and security. Under Vass's direction, the IT department focused on aligning Sun's technology deployment approach with its business strategy. In addition to his primary role as CIO, Vass also has served as one of Sun's key proponents of Open Source and eco-responsible computing, and was previously named by Computerworld as a Premier 100 Leader (2004).

With Vass' transition to Sun Federal, Sun Microsystems has appointed Robert Worrall to the position of CIO. Worrall formerly served as Vice President of Information Technology under Vass and was a recent recipient of CIO Magazine's "Ones to Watch" award in 2006.

Anthony Robbins comes to Sun from SGI, bringing more than 20 years of sales leadership experience in the technology and government markets. He began his career at SGI as a sales representative responsible for civilian agencies, DoD and Intelligence Agency business, and was promoted during his tenure to become President of SGI Federal and Senior Vice President of the North American Field Organization. Most recently, Anthony held the position of Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales for SGI including global sales, channels, business development and systems engineering.

After 20 years of service to Sun Microsystems, John Marselle, COO of Sun Federal will be retiring. Marselle's experience in the technology industry spans over 28 years with business leadership in government and commercial industries. He held various positions at Sun, including Vice President of the Americas and President of Sun Federal.

About Sun Microsystems

A singular vision - "The Network Is The Computer"(TM) - guides Sun in the development of technologies that power the world's most important markets. Sun's philosophy of sharing innovation and building communities is at the forefront of the next wave of computing: the Participation Age. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the Web at sun.com.

About Sun Microsystems Federal, Inc.

Sun Microsystems Federal, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sun Microsystems, Inc., identifies, captures and manages strategic opportunities, including securing government contracts that bring Sun's products and solutions to government markets worldwide.

NOTE: Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Java, Solaris, StorageTek, Sun Fire, and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. AMD, Opteron, the AMD logo, the AMD Opteron logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices. All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. in the US and other countries. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based upon an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Contact: Kathy Tom Engle, +1-415-294-4368, or kathy.engle@sun.com, or Deana Alvy, +1-703-204-4135, or deana.alvy@sun.com, both of Sun.

Source: prnewswire

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