Re: RDB Sold to Oracle! Damn!
Date: 1 SEP 94 22:26:54 EDT
Message-ID: <34633q$nm1_at_jac.zko.dec.com>
In article <ddrukerCv94x6.q8_at_netcom.com>, ddruker_at_netcom.com (Daniel Druker) writes...
Now that this is announced it will take a while to reply to the postings that I have saved....
. . .
>You are now the third person who has posted a note basically saying that
>this is a stupid transaction. What is your basis for this assertion ?
>
>The deal should be good for Oracle because it will gain market share, and
>lower its average cost of sales. (IE with the same sales and marketing
>infrastructure they will be selling X more licenses. This means more
>money for development to fend off Sybase, and higher profits for Oracle's
>investors. Isn't that what companies are supposed to do ? They will also
>get some good software technology and have access to some good engineers.
>
>For Digital, it means that they can eliminate rdb development, support, and
>marketing. They get a nice chunk of cash or stock for doing so. They can
>invest this cash in projects that provide higher returns for them than
>rdb did - building computers for example. If providing rdb was losing
>money for DEC, or if it was not making as much money for them as spending
>the same dollars elsewhere, it was a very smart move to sell it off.
>
Actually Rdb makes a ton of money directly and indirectly for Digital. In the long run Digital has decided for focus on various aspects of its business and partner with ouside software vendors for system packages. Oracle happens to be the database company they chose. As for Rdb's success in Digital I can assure you that quoting from a meeting with Bob Palmer and the Database systems group Rdb is the most successful software product Digital has ever owned.
>Just because you're used to getting a relational database for free,
>or subsidized by a sick company, and this won't be happening anymore
>doesn't make this is a stupid deal.
>
Rdb hasn't been free for a while. Although it is packaged in some software packages if you figure out the pricing it is in there...or the hardware hasn't been discounted and you got a good discount on the software. It is kind of like buying a car and trying to trade one in...
>The whole idea is that it will make both Digital and Oracle stronger. It
>would only be a stupid deal if Digital and Oracle did not agree on the
>correct price. The market seems to think that it is a good deal - The
>stock of both companies rose on the WSJ announcement.
>
As an insider who is personally affected by this, there are many
more long range opportunites for Rdb and people that depend on it.
- Jay Feenan ***
- Database Systems Engineering ***
- Digital Equipment Corp. ***
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- opinions expressed here are solely my own and not those of my ***
- employer. ***
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