I said there would be a shocker deal this year and this is it. Oracle have announced they're buying Sun for $9.50 a share. An offer less than what IBM first put on the table but 15 cents hire than IBMs post due diligence offer and it looks like Oracle are willing to fight it out with the regulators to prove that also owning MySQL isn't an issue.
If you're a Sun stockholder the board appears to have done it's job. But I still expect briefs from Microsoft and IBM to land on desks at the European Commission by the end of the week.
So this puts MySQL, Solaris and Java in Oracle's pocket and puts Oracle in the server and storage hardware business. Interestingly they're playing down owning the hardware components and a large tape business. One assumes a quick death for the Oracle/HP Exadata storage system since HP is now firmly on Oracle's hit list as a Sun server competitor.
Everything which isn't Java, MySQL or Solaris is probably now dead. Expect maintenance costs to sky rocket as per previous Oracle acquisitions.
Since they now consider Solaris a crown jewel I wouldn't expect NetApp to catch any breaks in their ZFS case. Charles Phillips going so far as saying
Oracle can optimize the Oracle database for some of the unique, high-end features of Solaris.
You mean like DTrace and ZFS? Probably the only unique features of Solaris.
This is an interesting deal for a number of reasons, one of them being Oracle has long tried to commoditise the hardware business and now finds itself in it.
They'll be selling one trick appliances like Exadata (And I can't find a customer who hasn't turned their nose up at that), but they're now a hardware vendor none the less.
Interesting shout out about protecting customers SPARC investment in those materials. The thought of losing that SPARC maintenance stream must have been a more damaging blow than anyone would have thought.
It does make sense that this is a defensive move. The maintenance revenue for Oracle running on Solaris/SPARC must be huge and that falling into the hands of IBM must have been a waking nightmare.
Looks like SPARC will continue for a while to come.
The smacks of a $7B defensive move on Oracle's part. Yes they pick up Java and MySQL but keeping Solaris and SPARC means you're keeping the parts other companies would have quietly disposed of in the face of Linux and Intel based processors.
There are much cheaper ways of getting into the server and storage business than buying Sun and taking on all that baggage, there's also the fact that buying hardware companies is like drinking a ladle full of castor oil.
It might be required but it's such a brutal, cut throat, low margin business you know it's going to upset your regularity for a while.
And that's why people don't do it that often.
All in all fun, fun, fun!