From the Editor - October 1995David M. Kalman
From the Editor - October 1995"We're not just a database company anymore," says Sybase Inc.'s Product Group VP Dennis McEvoy in this month's DBMS interview (see page 38). And so goes another lumbering database giant into extinction. Well, not exactly.
Unlike the dinosaurs, software companies can change quickly to respond to changing conditions. Driven by the demand for better integration, comprehensive technical services, and multiple revenue streams, Sybase -- like Oracle before it -- has accepted the challenge to change. The result is not a new "database" company, but a new information systems conglomerate equipped to sell products in multiple categories.
Sybase now sells application development tools (PowerBuilder, Watcom C/C++, and Star-Designor), database systems (Watcom SQL, System 10, and soon System 11), multimedia tools and interactive television (ITV) technology (Interplay), middleware (assorted database gateways), and consulting services. By casting off its database identity, Sybase (re)joins a league of conglomerates that includes Oracle, IBM, Microsoft, and Computer Associates (CA).
Oracle has offerings in the same markets as Sybase, plus financial apps and low-end programming tools. Microsoft sells a plethora of products, including games, keyboards, office apps, and OSs, and it also happens to sell database products such as SQL Server, BackOffice, Access, and Visual FoxPro. IBM makes too many different products to list. And yes, IBM also produces database systems such as IMS and the DB2 family. CA produces enough software titles to stock an entire CompUSA store, along with its database products CA-IDMS, CA-Datacom, and CA-Ingres.
Of the large software companies, perhaps Informix Software remains the most database-centric. Informix sells development tools, but remains focused on DBMS technology. This too will change as Informix diversifies to meet the new challenges of the data warehousing market in particular (where the company had pioneered high-performance, parallel-query technology).
The rest of the "database industry" remains populated with various technology boutiques, some of which remain focused on database technology. Gupta Corp. sells application development systems and a complementary DBMS. Illustra Software sells an object-relational DBMS and complementary libraries. XDB Systems sells DB2-compatible technology. Btrieve Technologies sells small-footprint DBMSs and file managers optimized for NetWare. Eventually, all these companies must diversify and grow rapidly or merge with other companies.
While we may no longer recognize a distinct "database" industry, the database product category will continue to thrive. Organizations will purchase more database technology, but from fewer (and larger) vendors who may be better prepared to deliver single-source solutions. Better integration of technology at its source will mean reduced complexity and reduced operating costs. At the same time, less competition could increase software costs and hinder innovation (although small startups could pick up the slack). Whatever the effect, the transformation of Sybase from a "database" company to something else marks the end of another chapter in the information revolution. You read it here first.
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