JAVA

News of RIF and re-orgs trickled in: they were let go, they got a new boss, cut, cut, cut, things look bleak. Sun Microsystems, that is.

It is sometime hard to stay in the group when people talk about Sun, a company that I was associated with, and proud of, for many years. A place many of my personal friends work. The source of my many Facebook friends and LinkedIn connections. My memory for Sun will stay for the rest of my life. The years I worked for Sun were also those I grew and learned the most in my career.

That’s why it is hard to hear what people say about Sun. They use the same words I use against companies I would never want to be associated with. It hurts.

What’s going to happen to Sun? I don’t really know. The company experienced the lost 80% of its value in a year. Its stock price is less than the book value. Annually, it has a healthy 6.4 billions of gross margin, yet it lost 1.7 billions in the previous quarter. History provides very few options for Jonathan Schwartz, the pony-tailed CEO blogger. As it did for Scott McNealy in 2006.

Jonathan can convince the board to let him plow on. His strategy (best system level TCO) is still sound, the product portfolio is strong, and the economy may recover. He could tidy up the house, improve efficiency, and prepare for the arrival of the good time.

With KKR on the board, LBO must be on people’s minds. Can the management raise enough money to take the company private? If this is the plan, mind you, it works better for the management if they preserve cash, reduce debts, and keep the stock price low.

Merger has been in the rumor mill for many years. Pundits examined all possible suiters: HP, IBM, Dell, Fujitsu, even Lenovo and Acer. I remembered when Compaq acquired DEC as a trophy. That was in 1998, merely 10 years ago.

Every several days, I would log into Facebook. Frequently, my friends from Sun have some feeds into my wall. I will read them, feel for them, and sometime leave a comment. I will also get invitations from LinkedIn. I read Sun blogs, but have culled those who use it only for marketing.

This has become a complicated world, hasn’t it?