“May you live in interesting times” says a Chinese curse and truer words cannot be said for mergers and acquisitions among major players in the IT industry. Acquisitions are a prickly business. When all the deals are made and the ball set rolling, it is time to sit back and watch how the chips finally fall. In an industry, especially the IT industry, things change rather fast and dramatically with the development of new technology and acquisitions. It is interesting to study how when a company such as Oracle buys out open source big wig Sun Microsystems, how the business changes as do competitors and allies.

MySQL

Oracle now owns Sun Microsystems and its enterprises such as MySQL, Java and Glassfish and many other assets. It is faced with an interesting challenge as the company that it has taken over poses the biggest challenge to its Oracle Database. According to Betanews MySQL announced its MySQL 5.4 which allows it to use “16-processor support for x86 servers with multiple cores per processor.” This news has two sides for new owners Oracle. This development also poses a problem for Oracle’s own proprieties. Of course Oracle does have the means to control MySQL with its InnoDB, the storage engine that is vital to making MySQL’s latest developments scalable.

Java

While Oracle is more than happy to get its hands on Sun’s precious jewels namely Java and Solaris, it is still not understood how it will handle the open source programming language. It is important to understand not just the technological impact but also the fiscal one on this enterprise and what it brings into Oracle. Java is believed to generate revenues of almost $300 million in 2009 and there is still a lot left to the fiscal year. Experts say that the revenues from Java increase by more than 25% every year. While this adds tremendously to Oracle’s assets it also brings in the question as to how it expects to handle the open source programming software. The work ethos and culture at Sun and at Oracle are virtually poles apart and unless Oracle is careful it risks losing some of the brightest minds in the business.

Oracle’s acquisition of Sun Microsystems will change the long drawn lines in this industry. In the coming months its actions will decide whether it will continue to garner the support of the MySQL and Java communities or lose it. How Oracle integrates the Sun staff with its own business or if it allows it to run somewhat independently will decide the fate of its new enterprises. For now customers, competitors and allies watch from the sidelines to see how this $7.4 billion take over will change the face of the industry.

The Big Picture

Oracle now has the assets and the resources to become a leader with an unshakable presence in the IT industry. How it uses and underutilizes its assets will determine the fate of Oracle as also its assets. Oracle can now provide everything for enterprise database, from versatile use of Java to open source, middleware and applications and processing as well as storage hardware.

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