LOGIN | REGISTER NOW | SUBSCRIBE
 
print Printable version 
Most Read Latest News Blog Resources
Mono brings .NET to Android
At Microsoft MIX, Mono will unveil the ability to port .NET applications to the Android op...

Does Windows cost Microsoft opportunities?
Microsoft's decision to focus .NET on Windows is stifling innovation due to the specter of...

Scrum Planning Board adds automation to Axosoft OnTime
Illustrations are also included to assist Scrum-using developers a better view of what the...

Digg!  Digg
Reddit  Reddit
Slashdot  Slashdot
Share on facebook  Facebook
Share on Twitter  Twitter

From the Editors: Sun needs grown-ups


By SD Times Editorial Board
April 15, 2009 — 
Is a big, successful IT company going to buy Sun Microsystems? If so, it would be good for Sun—and for the industry.

Mid-March saw rumors flying about a potential Sun acquisition by IBM. As you would expect from two large, publicly traded firms, nothing official was said by company executives. It’s possible that the rumor was a trial balloon. It’s possible that someone spilled some inside information. It’s possible that it was entirely fictitious.

The rumor did spark furious commentary by pundits, who offered their opinions as to whether such an acquisition would be good or bad.

Our opinion: It’s time for grown-ups to run Sun, and if that means Sun’s acquisition by IBM or another big player, then we’re all in favor.

Under chief executive Jonathan Schwartz, Sun has too much vision, too little execution, and doesn’t play well with others. Sun’s many technology geniuses have grand ideas, but company leaders haven’t found a way to turn those ideas into profitable revenue streams. Investments are scattershot, ranging from pushing the limits of high-end data center hardware, fostering open-source operating systems, pushing Java, competing in the mobile space, sticking to its knitting on developer tools, entering the rich Internet applications market, entering the open-source database market, and more.

Pundits have been scathing about Sun. So has the stock market. In his blog on March 2, Schwartz wrote that the company need do only three things: recruit developers, deliver compelling commercial offerings, and execute an effective selling/service connection between developers and commercial offerings.

Sun has a strong developer message, but it’s not knocking the ball out of the park. Sun has strong commercial products, but it’s not taking the world by storm. On the sales front, Sun certainly hasn’t delivered; even Schwartz calls it a “work in progress.”

That’s where the grown-ups come in. It’s time for a mature, business-centric company to take over Sun and its tremendous product and intellectual property portfolio—and turn them into a business.

Certification testers: Clean up your act
It’s easy for cheaters to obtain answers to IT certification tests. The test industry must do a better job of policing itself, ensuring that its certifications have genuine value, demonstrate expertise, and reward hard work.

The firms that issue certification exams must perform the due diligence necessary to reduce cheating. Failing to do so robs the companies in whose names they’re issuing the tests. It also steals from the honest professionals who work hard to earn their certifications, and it makes a mockery of the organizations that rely upon those certifications to help screen job applicants, hire consultants and reward their employees to gaining certifications.

Answers to many certification tests can be found within minutes on the Web. A community of cheaters works endlessly to outwit the authorities.

Getting certified may not guarantee a job, but it will get a job applicant through the door. Certifications can also mean high pay. Put simply: It pays to cheat.

We’re not naïve. We know that testing companies make money from issuing tests. The more people take and pass those tests, the more money the testing companies make. Making the tests harder to cheat on will cost them more, both in added investment and in a reduced number of certifications issued.

Too bad. The value of a certification is measured only by its trustworthiness. Rampant cheating degrades the certification and harms the individuals and organizations that invest in taking the tests and using the certifications.

We call upon the test organizations to do whatever it takes to restore trust to their tests—including rotating their question pools more often, going after websites that trade in tests and answer sheets, and punishing test-takers who cheat by publishing their names and banning them from future tests.

And we call upon the companies in whose names many of these certifications are offered, like Microsoft, Cisco and IBM, to hold their test organizations to the highest possible standards. It’s time to behave with integrity.


Related Search Term(s): Sun


Share this link: http://www.sdtimes.com/link/33402
 

Add comment


Name*
Email*  
Country     


  • Comment
  • Preview
Loading



 
 
 
 
News on Monday
more>>
SharePoint Tech Report
more>>


   

 
 
Download Current Issue
ISSUE 3/15/2010 PDF

Need Back Issues?
DOWNLOAD HERE

Receive the print Edition?


 
blogs tab
Google Code turns 5
Google Code Turns 5, and adds a Paxos Algorithm to make the system more stable and reliable.
03/17/2010 11:16 AM EST

Test your Visual Studio 2010 know-how
Microsoft is offering free beta certification exams for Visual Studio 2010.
03/17/2010 11:08 AM EST

Microsoft lifts the hood on IE9
Microsoft is previewing IE9.
03/16/2010 01:10 PM EST

 

Events calendar tab
EclipseCon
3/22/2010 to 3/25/2010
Santa Clara, Calif.
The Eclipse Foundation

DevConnections
4/12/2010 to 4/14/2010
Las Vegas
Penton Media

MySQL Conf. and Expo
4/12/2010 to 4/15/2010
Santa Clara, Calif.
O'Reilly Media

High Performance Computing Linux Financial Markets
4/19/2010
New York City
Flagg Management

Informix User Conf.
4/25/2010 to 4/28/2010
Overland Park, Kans.
IIUG