Sun To Acquire Outsourcing Vendor SevenSpace

Sun Microsystems on Monday disclosed plans to acquire SevenSpace Inc., a provider of IT outsourcing and managed services. Specific terms of the all-cash transaction were not disclosed. Sun expects to close the deal by the end of March.

Through the acquisition, the hardware vendor is looking to build a services capability "for all platforms, not simply Sun's," said Marissa Peterson, Sun's executive VP for services, in a statement.

Privately held SevenSpace focuses primarily on providing hosted and managed services around enterprise applications from software vendors such as SAP, Oracle, and PeopleSoft. The company has more than 100 employees and counts global investment firm The Carlyle Group among its customers.

Observers say the move indicates Sun's acknowledgement that more customers want to purchase technology and services from a single vendor. "It's a recognition that managed services has to be part of their portfolio," says Jeff Kaplan, managing director at consulting firm ThinkStrategies. Kaplan sees a trend, noting that Cisco Systems recently purchased NetSolve Inc. with an eye to providing managed services to its customers. Says Kaplan, "These initiatives are being led by the customer."