What Sun Got Wrong

Sun Microsystems failed to capitalize on early cloud computing opportunities because the company had become disengaged with the fundamentals of running a business, as exemplified by a 2005 incident where a growing startup using Sun's open-source Solaris software wanted to purchase hardware but couldn't get Sun's sales team to respond—while Dell's attentive account executive closed the same deal in weeks. The author argues that Sun's lack of interest in business operations, despite having superior technology and a working business model, ultimately contributed to the company's decline.