Sun could offer a hosted version of its MySQL database for developers, for example, and it could launch on-demand computing services to replace its Grid utility service. But Sun won't go into that level of detail yet.

"We'll have some more formal announcements after the New Year," Douglas said.

A reporter here asked him why customers would use Sun products to build their cloud infrastructure, when many today are using industry standard servers and the Linux operating system.

Douglas argued that Sun's Solaris has several benefits, particularly in the area of management and security. A company could run Linux or Windows in virtual containers inside Solaris, he said, and then use the Sun OS for tasks like provisioning and security.

He also highlighted , which is part of Sun's OpenSolaris project and can manage virtual network interface cards and funnel high volumes of traffic between servers running a variety of operating systems.