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                                                        The Florida SunFlash

          SMCC/Tektronix/National Instruments Alliance

SunFLASH Vol 45 #3					      September 1992 
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	       SMCC, TEKTRONIX AND NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS 
 	   FORM ALLIANCE FOR TEST AND MEASUREMENT SOLUTIONS
 
     "Open Measurement Solutions" Product Line Expected to
         Result in $30 Million In Revenues In First Year

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- September 1, 1992 -- Sun Microsystems Computer
Corporation (SMCC), Tektronix, Inc., and National Instruments Corp.
today announced that they have formed an alliance to develop, market
and sell a new line of integrated test and measurement systems called
Open Measurement Solutions. Based on industry-standard products, these
solutions will comprise SPARCstation and SPARCserver systems from SMCC;
VXI and GPIB test instrumentation from Tektronix; and LabVIEW graphical
application software and instrument controller hardware from National
Instruments. Open Measurement Solutions will be targeted at industries
such as aerospace, automotive, telecommunications and electronic design
automation (EDA). The three companies expect nearly $30 million in
combined worldwide revenue in the first year as a result of the
agreement.

The new alliance is one of the first such collaborations of its kind.
Its members will collaborate to ensure that their products work
optimally together, offering customers the most comprehensive -- yet
open and flexible -- test and measurement solutions in the industry.
Unlike products from other vendors, these systems can be linked easily
to equipment from other companies. This ensures that users will not be
locked into proprietary products from a single vendor and that systems
can be easily expanded to meet future needs.

In addition, Open Measurement Solutions will further the promise of
concurrent engineering, because users will be able to carry out key
engineering functions -- from product design to testing and
manufacturing -- on a workstation. For example, SPARC systems from SMCC
that run the Solaris operating environment are already used heavily in
EDA applications. When combined with the easy-to-use LabVIEW software
and high-performance Tektronix instrumentation, these systems can now
be used for high-performance test applications as well. Furthermore,
the built-in networking capabilities of Sun workstations will allow
users in different departments to share information, speeding the
product development process and getting products to market faster.

The new product line not only gives users the benefit of leading
technology, it also gives them the security of products that are
high-volume industry standards. With a 40 percent market share -- more
than twice its nearest competitor -- SMCC is the industry's top
workstation vendor. The company has an installed base of more than
600,000 units. Tektronix is a world leader in VXI instrumention for
avionics, telecommunications and electronic testing applications.
LabVIEW from National Instruments is the industry's most popular
application development software for test applications.

Distribution Channels

Support Customers can buy Open Measurement Solutions products through
three channels, depending on the level of integration they need.
Customers who require complete test and measurement systems can contact
the Tektronix Integration Center, which will configure standard
solutions based on products from the three companies. Second, products
can be purchased through selected third-party system integrators and
value-added resellers (VARs) that can add further customization to meet
users' requirements. Finally, customers who wish to assemble their own
test and measurement solutions can purchase products separately from
each of the three companies, knowing that the products have been tuned
to work together.

Members of the three companies' sales forces will be cross-trained to
sell solutions. Because many sales situations will require a "team
selling" approach, the sales and field technical staffs of each company
will work closely together. In addition, the companies' engineering and
support teams will also coordinate efforts. End-user support contracts
will be provided through National Instruments. In all cases, the
structure of the alliance is transparent to customers, who have a
single point of contact for sales and support.

Customers worldwide can begin ordering Open Measurement Solutions from
the new alliance now. For more information, customers can contact
Tektronix, Inc., P.O. Box 1520, Pittsfield, MA 01202 or call
1-800-426-2200, Ext.  111.

Tektronix, Inc., is a leading manufacturer of electronic products and
systems in the areas of test and measurement, computer graphics and
television systems. Revenues in fiscal year 1992 totalled $1.3 billion
from worldwide sales.

National Instruments, headquartered in Austin, Texas, for 16 years,
manufactures the LabVIEW  and LabWindows software and hardware
interface products used by engineers and scientists to build integrated
instrument systems using industry-standard personal computers and
workstations.  Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation, a subsidiary of
Sun Microsystems, Inc., is the world's leading supplier of
client-server computing solutions, which feature networked workstations
and servers that store, process and distribute information. Used for
many demanding commercial and technical applications, SMCC's products
command the largest share of the computer industry's fastest-growing
market segment: workstations and servers.


Press Contact Robert Manetta at (415) 336-0979.
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John McLaughlin, SunFlash editor, flash@sunvice.East.Sun.COM. (305) 776-7770.

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