Open Sources | Rodrigues & Urlocker » IBM invests in EnterpriseDB

March 25, 2008 | Comments: (0)

IBM invests in EnterpriseDB

TAGS: Open Source

EnterpriseDB just raised $10M in Series C financing. IBM joined the list of investors including Fidelity Ventures, Valhalla Partners and Charles River Ventures. To date, EnterpriseDB has raised $37.5M (compared to the $39M that MySQL had raised in total after Series C).

EnterpriseDB uses the slogan "The Oracle-compatible database company". While I wish Andy and the folks at EnterpriseDB the best, the challenge is that Oracle's high end products aren't in danger of losing to OSS competition. Next, in the majority of Oracle deals, Oracle isn't selling a database anymore. They are selling a database, an application server, tools and applications in a joint fashion. It's difficult for vendors to compete unless they can offer, or partner to offer, the equivalent products. This is bad news for smaller ISVs, especially smaller/regional application ISVs.

EnterpriseDB does have an opportunity to compete, and win, against Oracle in deals where the customer just needs a standalone database (and not all the other Oracle products) that can be utilized with their existing Oracle sills. This isn't new news to Andy and team. I'm sure some of the new funding will be used to compete with Oracle in this market segment.

I just realized that EnterpriseDB is also targeting MySQL users (news to me!):

"MySQL users know firsthand that MySQL is most effective for read-only environments and the web/edge tier - but not for applications in demanding OLTP environments, requiring enterprise-class reliability, availability, and scalability.

In fact, some EnterpriseDB clients continue to run MySQL databases for less demanding applications and turn to us where they've "hit a wall" with MySQL. "

I find this quite interesting, and very much in line with what I've experienced. No one product is right for ever customer project. Also, a product may be right when you start the project, but it may not be appropriate a year or two down the road.

What do you think, does EnterpriseDB have a brighter future by targeting Oracle users that want "Oracle like features for MySQL prices" or by targeting MySQL users who have "hit the wall"?

PS: I should state: "The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions."

Posted by Savio Rodrigues on March 25, 2008 06:00 AM

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