It was revealed today that Oracle will buy Sun Microsystems. The deal is expected to close in the summer. It has come as a joyous moment for the board, directors and all involved with the latest acquisition fiascos.
While IBM was interested in buying, they bailed out. Maybe because it was too costly in comparison to all the hoops IBM would have to go through. Being a hardware builder and integrator IBM would be required to pass through a ton of red tape to acquire Sun. Whereas with Oracle, who is more of a software builder and integrator has now acquired a new hardware endeavor and won’t have to cut through as much red tape.
When puzzles fit, and all the pieces are down, found and integrate, the reward is always a breath of fresh air. Executives and architects can get on with life – fixing things and getting on with business; and where sometimes a heated debate and heated acquisition can cause ire and bad feelings for years. That may be the best thing going for this deal.
As a database architect, I am most interested in the Oracle-MySQL debate. I’m all for the fact that Oracle can now narrow the focus of hardware-software integrations and make data centers more compatible and thus more stable from top to bottom. I am more worried about the possibilities of killing MySQL.
My interests for years have naturally fallen on Microsoft SQL Server becuase of the low-cost of ownership and the great amounts of opportunities in the database field to help business. I like the Oracle is a very mature software platform and has a tremendous amount of support in backing and technical allegiences. It’s very robust and capable. Just very costly. Then comes MySQL. I love the fact that it’s free. It has offered so many possibilities for small businesses and integrating a decent backend for applications and startups that it’s a great platform with some tremendous capabilities.
In hindsite, is the integration of transactions, logging, improved security, and clustering a little to late? Could this acquisition kill MySQL. As individual organizations (Oracle vs. Sun/MySQL) work on their independent database technologies, a healthy competition breeds momentum, creativity, and drive for improvement.
How will this stir the pot in kitchen? Does MySQL stand a chance as a spice in the rack of a restaurant like Oracle?
I will look forward to Oracle’s comments in the next few weeks about their plans with MySQL. Destroy or enhance?
I love the potential of MySQL and how it helps so many LAMP environments. The upcoming years will be interesting in the database world because of this acquisition, what will we see.