Memo to Sun: Promote MySQL Through Avnet

I'm not making any guarantees, but I hope Sun Microsystems (JAVA) articulates its MySQL partner strategy the week of August 18 at the Avnet (AVT) New Frontiers Conference in Colorado. Here’s why.

I attended Avnet New Frontiers last year. It was an impressive gathering of high-end Sun partners — the folks who influence sales of Sun servers, storage and other solutions to large and midsize enterprises.

In short, the Avnet Technology Solutions audience could play a critical role in the success -- or failure -- of Sun’s MySQL strategy. Sun paid $1 billion to acquire the open source database, and I initially praised the deal.

But more recently, Wall Street has been disappointed with Sun’s financial results and critics are wondering how Sun will monetize an open source database.

Folks, you’re missing the point: MySQL will drive MORE sales of Sun’s hardware and also paves the way for Sun to either acquire database applications or promote third-party applications that further strengthen Sun’s business. MySQL also puts Sun in touch with a fiercely loyal open source database community.

For the record, I still believe Sun will bolster MySQL’s position within corporate enterprises. However, the company needs to articulate how solutions providers and integrators can profit from MySQL.

Microsoft, for instance has a huge channel of integrators and resellers for its SQL Server database. Sun Microsystems needs to take similar steps with MySQL.

Hopefully, that messaging begins during the Avnet New Frontiers event.

Disclosure: none

Comments

[MySQL suppo...:]

Hmmmm....so does that mean that companies like Google and Yahoo are not serious companies???

2008 Aug 19 02:43 PM

[fire_Jonathan:]

Hmmm ... Do Google and Yahoo also use high price Sun's hardwares? Oracles DB helped Sun to sell a lot of hardwares. Oracles (like Microsoft) know how to lock loyal customers to pay Oracle's taxes for the DB. I had been yelling out for 2+ years that Jonathan's strategies of giving away softwares to make money on hardwares are the failures. Look at the revenue growth for Sun for the past 2 years to now to prove my point

2008 Aug 22 05:14 AM