Sun: MySQL Will Soon Be Its New Prize

| Jan 18, 2008 | Data Management | Competitive Intelligence Report

| Analyst: Michael Schiff

Current Perspective: Positive
Vendor Importance: Very High
Market Impact: High

Event Summary

January 16, 2008 - Sun Microsystems, Inc. announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire MySQL AB, an open source icon and developer of one of the world’s fastest-growing open source databases, for approximately $1 billion in total consideration. The acquisition accelerates Sun's position in enterprise IT to include the $15 billion database market.

Analytical Summary

• Current Perspective: Positive on Sun’s pending acquisition of MySQL AB, as it places the MySQL open source database in the hands of a company that appreciates the open source and community developer process while providing Sun with a respected database to complement its existing technology stack.

• Vendor Importance: Very high to both Sun Microsystems and MySQL AB, as Sun now becomes a database vendor with a product that leads the open source database market while MySQL AB will assimilated into Sun’s software organization and lose its own identity.

• Market Impact: High on the database technology market, as MySQL’s technology will now have the backing and support of Sun, a major and well-established hardware and software vendor.

Recommended Competitor Actions

• IBM and Oracle should “congratulate” Sun on its support for the open source movement while focusing on the fact that due to the performance and full feature capabilities of their own products, MySQL is certainly not a substitute for IBM DB2 or the Oracle databases.

• Microsoft, based on its history of battles with Sun (e.g., over Java), is likely to be more directly impacted by the acquisition. While MySQL can run on Windows and Linux as well as Solaris, Microsoft SQL Server can only run on Windows. With the resources of a major company such as Sun behind it, MySQL becomes more competitive with Microsoft technology.

• In general, vendors of proprietary database software might suggest that, in the database world, “you get what you pay for” and that open source offerings cannot really compete with their own database products.

Recommended End User / Customer Actions

• MySQL’s installed base should view the company’s pending acquisition by Sun as a positive, as it will place the resources of a major vendor behind their technology investment and enhance global support.

• User and developer organizations that may not have previously considered the MySQL database for mission-critical applications should investigate the enhanced support that Sun will offer and reconsider their decisions.

• That said, users should recognize that MySQL, while appropriate for certain Internet-based environments, does not have the same robust features and functions of database products such as Oracle and DB2. In many environments, it may be appropriate as a low-cost adjunct to, but not a replacement for, products such as Oracle and DB2.

CLIENTS ONLY

Current Perspective

Competitive Positives and Concerns

Recommended Vendor Actions

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