David Gang, senior vice president of strategic development at America Online, Inc. (Nasdaq: AOL), is assuming the role of executive vice president and deputy general manager of iPlanet e-commerce solutions, a Sun-Netscape Alliance.

The iPlanet initiative was established in March of last year by Dulles, Va.-based AOL and Sun Microsystems, Inc., to provide easy-to-deploy, comprehensive e-commerce solutions for the net economy. It provides the industry's broadest portfolio of e-commerce infrastructure and applications software and services and its iPlanet messaging, directory, Web and application server software all enjoy number one marketshare positions. The iPlanet Web site is located at http://www.iplanet.com.

In addition to working closely with Mark Tolliver, president and general manager of iPlanet, on management of the business, Gang will also focus on strategic planning, streamlining business operations and building key strategic alliances.

For the past five years, Gang has played a leading role in developing AOL's products, including AOL 3.0, AOL 4.0, AOL Instant Messenger and "You've Got Pictures."