IBM Invests in Open-Source Database for Enterprises
Date : 25 Mar 2008 Category : Technology
NewsFactor NetworkThe influx is the latest step in EnterpriseDB's relationship with IBM. The companies have worked together on versions of EnterpriseDB's Advanced Server product for Linux on IBM System z mainframes and for AIX on IBM System p servers.
"This latest round of investment in EnterpriseDB is an acknowledgment of our business model, technical innovation, and emergence as a leading force in the PostgreSQL community, including our work in the areas of database compatibility and performance," said Andy Astor, EnterpriseDB CEO.
Oracle Competitor
IBM hailed the investment as part of its long-standing commitment to open source. "Global organizations of all sizes rely upon open-source technologies to free information from proprietary silos and use it in innovative ways across their businesses," said Inna Kuznetsova, IBM's director of Linux strategy
The new investment brings total venture funding for four-year-old EnterpriseDB to $37.5 million. EnterpriseDB now boasts 200 enterprise companies and will be profitable within a year, Astor said.
EnterpriseDB is positioned as cheaper but competitive with industrial-strength Oracle and more powerful than the free open-source MySQL database. Sun recently purchased MySQL for $1 billion.
IBM's investment in EnterpriseDB "can be seen as a slap of sorts at the Sun acquisition," said Charles King, principal analyst with Pund-IT, in a telephone interview.
"EnterpriseDB was a direct competitor of MySQL," King noted. "EnterpriseDB feels theirs is the better offering, especially for transactional environments." When Sun acquired MySQL, it left EnterpriseDB as the only free-standing, enterprise-class open-source offering.
Deep Open-Source Roots
IBM called the investment "another example of IBM's long-standing commitment to open standards." But while IBM has...