"At Sun, we see a large number of users from around the world wanting to immediately download our software solutions," said Curtis Sasaki, vice president, Sun Web Properties, as it was announced that MCI is going to be helping Sun to improve software downloads for its customers using the Sun Download Center (SDLC), a Web-based global software distribution service.

Powered by MCI's advanced Enterprise Hosting Services and Akamai Technologies, Inc.'s Electronic Software Delivery solution, the SDLC service will improve the speed and performance of software downloads while reducing Sun's operational costs and enabling it to better serve customers worldwide.

Under terms of the agreement announced this week, MCI Enterprise Hosting will support Sun's global software distribution business by simplifying infrastructure management and providing instant scalability required for key software launches and regular download activity from the SDLC. The SDLC offers customers 24/7 access and convenience, helping to reduce software distribution costs and efficiently deliver software packages to customers for a broad range of Sun products. The SDLC delivers more than 20 million software downloads per month.

"Our customers expect a fast, super reliable experience, even with extremely large files and thousands of simultaneous users. We are pleased to be working closely with MCI and Akamai to deliver the kinds of user experiences our customers expect from Sun," Sasaki (pictured) added.

By introducing the MCI/Akamai solution, Sun customers visiting the SDLC Web portal will now be able to more quickly and reliably download software supporting a broad range of Sun applications for enterprises, including its StarOffice Productivity suite, Solaris operating system and Java-based programs, some of which take up the storage capacity of an entire CD.

"Working with Akamai, MCI is able to help companies like Sun better serve their customers around the world," said Joe Crawford, vice president of MCI Hosting Services. "MCI's best-of-breed IP Services and Akamai's global platform illustrate the power of our alliance and how we are working together to improve our customers' business through Internet technology."

Sun and MCI have a long history of working together. MCI uses Sun hardware and software for its managed hosting services. MCI's Enterprise Hosting Services are also SunTone certified, signifying they meet high industry standards for excellence in infrastructure, reliability, performance, scalability, security and availability.