After all, Sun has been eating HP's ISP lunch for a long time. ISPs have evolved and grown up. They don't just host Web sites anymore. They host entire businesses, running everything from your e-mail to your transaction software. They want to leverage the prestige and reassurance that partnering with Sun or HP can bring.
Partnerships are key.
PSINet's PSIMail is a good example of an outsourced service. Exodus Communications has taken ISP-ship a step further. Calling itself an Internet data center company, Exodus steps in as your computing infrastructure, taking care of everything from computer-room fire suppression to running your network. Or it can replicate large volumes of data at geographically dispersed data centers. Web-savvy companies such as HotMail, Lycos and USA Today.