Click here to receive your FREE subscription to Campus Technology
News
Sun in Deal To Acquire MySQL
1/16/2008
Sun Microsystems is making a play to boost its standing in the $15 billion database market. The company announced Wednesday a definitive agreement to acquire MySQL AB, whose technologies are behind some of the highest-volume sites on the Web, including Google and Facebook. The deal will cost Sun about $1 billion, but the company said it expects the move to "[reaffirm] Sun's position as the leading provider of platforms for the Web economy and its role as the largest commercial open source contributor."
According to information released by Sun, more than 100 million copies of MySQL software have been downloaded to date, with the current pace reaching about 50,000 downloads per day. Sun said that the reach of MySQL will help "bring new markets for Sun's systems, virtualization, middleware and storage platforms." In a conference call today, Jonathan Schwartz, CEO and president of Sun, called the acquisition the most important one in the history of the company.
"Today's acquisition reaffirms Sun's position at the center of the global Web economy. Supporting our overall growth plan, acquiring MySQL amplifies our investments in the technologies demanded by those driving extreme growth and efficiency, from Internet media titans to the world's largest traditional enterprises," said Sun's Schwartz in a statement released by the company today. "MySQL's employees and culture, along with its near ubiquity across the Web, make it an ideal fit with Sun's open approach to network innovation. And most importantly, this announcement boosts our investments into the communities at the heart of innovation on the Internet and of enterprises that rely on technology as a competitive weapon."
So how does this deal impact MySQL?
According to Sun, MySQL will be integrated into Sun's Software, Sales and Service organizations. By bringing MySQL into the Sun fold, the company said it will provide the credibility the MySQL needs to gain acceptance for mission-critical deployments.
"The single biggest impediment to the growth of MySQL ... is their ability to give peace of mind to a global company that wants to put MySQL into mission-critical deployments," Schwartz said in today's conference call. "That is what our customers have come to expect from Sun, and we can deliver exactly that peace of mind."
As for plans for the database itself, said Marten Mickos, CEO of MySQL: "We started with very frugal beginnings in the '90s, and we have been been upgrading it and developing the database all these years. I think it will be sped up by the fact that now that we have better resources, more resources, and [the] ability to work closely with Sun on building more performance, more scale, and more integration with what is needed in the enterprise."
The acquisition includes $800 million in cash and $200 million in options. The deal is expected to close in Sun's third or fourth fiscal quarter (between now and June 30, 2008), pending regulatory approval and other closing conditions. Following the close of the deal, MySQL's Mickos join Sun's senior executive team.
Read More:
About the author: Dave Nagel is the executive editor for 1105 Media's educational technology online publications and electronic newsletters. He can be reached at dnagel@1105media.com.
Have any additional questions? Want to share your story? Want to pass along a news tip? Contact Dave Nagel, executive editor, at dnagel@1105media.com.
Cite this Site
copy text (above) for proper citation
Recommended Reading
- Sun, Stanford Working To Archive History
In May in San Francisco, experts from leading universities, libraries, and research institutions around the world met as part of an ongoing effort to address a pressing issue: archiving the world's history, right up to today.
- The Quilt Coalition Rolls Out XO Communications for High-Capacity Network Services
The Quilt, a coalition of 28 regional network organizations, has added XO Communications Services to its authorized vendor list. The Quilt represents 200 universities and thousands of other educational institutions across the United States. With this new relationship, Quilt members can purchase XO's high-speed IP transit and network transport services at competitive rates.
- Wimba Classroom 5.2 Expands Classroom Capture Support, Adds MP3 Downloads
At the NECC 2008 conference in Texas this week, Wimba launched a new version of Wimba Classroom, the virtual classroom component of the company's Collaboration Suite. The new 5.2 release expands options for classroom capture and adds a variety of other functional and ease of use features.
- Automation Chimera: Education Is Not Management
The lure of automating workflow online so human intervention is minimized is continually reinforced in the minds of higher education administrators by examples of automated campus systems such as financials, student information systems, and other enterprise systems. But what's good for management is not always good for learning.
- Cognos Releases BI Software for Linux-based IBM System z Mainframe
Cognos, which IBM acquired in January, has released an update to its business intelligence software that will run on the Linux operating system on IBM System z mainframes. IBM Cognos 8 BI was being developed by the two companies prior to the acquisition, but assimilation of Cognos into IBM accelerated development.
- Facebook and Collegiality: A Serendipitous Social Niche
Facebook is a way to greet a colleague as if she or he is on your own campus: a wave at a distance, a hello at the corner burrito place, a honk as you both leave the campus parking lot. Informal collegiality has been extended over the miles.
