Pretend you're Oracle CEO Larry Ellison for a minute (forget about the yacht and designer suits, though). You're spending $7.4 billion to buy Sun Microsystems, and all of a sudden the EU antitrust posse frets about the fate of MySQL, the popular, open source database. Would you risk the acquisition because you want to remain the proud owner of a product that may or may not have revenue potential, or would you throw it overboard?
If you're a Wall Street investment analyst, the answer is pretty clear: Give it the heave-ho.
"MySQL is a baggage, not an asset," says Trip Chowdhry of Global Equities Research. Given the EU investigation and MySQL's paltry revenue growth, Oracle's only smart option is to spin it off, he says. But spin off to where?
[ Relive Sun's storied history in InfoWorld's slideshow "The rise and fall of Sun Microsystems." | Learn why MySQL users are nervous about Oracle's buyout of Sun. ]
There's another way point of view out there, however, and it's been championed by Matthew Aslett, who follows open source for the 451 Group: "Oracle is well aware that it has little to gain from killing off MySQL. We expect MySQL to become the scale-out database for nontransactional Web applications and to compete with SQL Server in departmental deployments," he wrote this week.
Perhaps he's right. But it's far from clear that Oracle would do much with MySQL beyond channeling users toward its own larger and more expensive products.
Throw MySQL under the bus?
Oracle has said nothing about its intentions for MySQL other than a line on its Web site: "MySQL will be an addition to Oracle's existing suite of database products." Frankly, given the value of the Sun deal and the potential veto by the European Commission (the executive authority of the EU), Oracle is probably smart to keep its corporate mouth shut.
Even so, there's data that shows why Oracle may not fight very hard to keep the company.
"MySQL is almost impossible to be monetized. More than 98 percent of the customer base is DIY, and they don't see any value in paying for support. Contacts tell us that MySQL continues to struggle with monetization issues, with revenues probably not exceeding $50 million, and has been like that for the last three years. 'No revenue growth whatsoever,' said our [Sun] contact," Chowdhry wrote in a note to clients.
Get the independent advice and expertise you need to support a virtual workforce.
The increase in Linux popularity has increased the frequency and sophistication of malware attacks. Read this 2 page white paper now to learn how you can protect your Linux environment with real-time protection that is certified by all major Linux vendors.
Download now »
Ensuring acceptable application delivery will become even more difficult over the next few years. As a result, IT organizations need to ensure that the approach that they take to resolving the current application delivery challenges can scale to support the emerging challenges. This handbook elaborates on the key tasks associated with planning, optimization, management and control and provides decision criteria to help IT organizations choose appropriate solutions.
Download now »
A common misconception is that mid-range storage requirements are dramatically different than that of a larger enterprise. Mid-range storage users may require less capacity, but they have similar functionality and management requirements. This ESG paper examines mid-range storage needs and reviews a new solution that adjusts size while retaining value, performance and functionality.
Download now »
Sign up to receive InfoWorld Resource Alerts
298 Recommendations
