With Oracle's recent $7.38 billion dollar buyout of Sun Microsystems,
some new product recipes are bound to end up on the fattened company's
revisited menu. New head chef Larry Ellison is now directing the flavor
of Sun's software products, and some people are concerned for possible
drastic changes, especially during this economic recession and the
necessity for Oracle to bring in new channels of revenue. One possible
change-of-course could be converting Sun's incredibly popular MySQL to
a pay-for Software, which would bring thousands of businesses and
software developers to their feet in protest.
MySQL software
allows people and companies alike to access and manage their website
databases. MySQL is open source software, which means people can
download it free of charge as well as access and contribute to the
software's code. To date, there have been over 11 million installations
of the product, including high profile use by companies like Facebook,
Google and Wikipedia. In the past, Sun has only marginally monetized
MySQL through paid offerings like software updates and extended product
support.
Ellison and Oracle could tap into the huge MySQL
userbase as a new profit channel by converting it to enterprise
software - charging customers through a licensing fee. This could
simultaneously provide a gargantuan influx of revenue to Oracle, as
well as alienate millions of open-source customers who currently rely
on the software. It seems like a drastic strategy, however, the current
economic recession could call for Oracle's management to search for
extreme ways to prepare for future leaks in revenue. Although Oracle
has so far remained relatively unscathed by the economic depression,
their buyout of Sun is clearly forward thinking to potential future
hardships.
Ellison has been known to be quite the staunch
competitor and would not necessarily let the alienation of current
MySQL users deter him from a new business opportunity. With a net worth
of approximately $27 billion, Ellison has been known for his hard-nosed
leadership, obsession with Samurai warrior culture, and refusal to take
'no' as an answer. Whether it be a whale-sized luxury yacht, an
unwelcome company buyout, or a change to MySQL's monetization strategy-
he most often gets what he wants. Ellison was most aptly personified
during Oracle's hostile takeover of human resource and recruiting
software company PeopleSoft in 2004, jokingly saying he'd shoot
opposing CEO Craig Conway (rather than his dog).
Converting
MySQL into a paid enterprise service may not be the best move for
Oracle, as there are several other open source competitors that current
MySQL users could jump to. PostrgreSQL is one such alternative that may
welcome a MySQL paid solution, as they would surely gain a large
customer influx.
Although transforming MySQL into a paid
enterprise service would certainly push a large portion of the current
userbase away, there would also be some who would likely stay with the
service, even if meant a fee. Many MySQL users have a brand affiliation
with the software as well as a deep familiarity with utilizing it.
It
is pretty uncertain what would happen if Ellison and Oracle took MySQL
in this new direction- although during the current times, anything is
possible.
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