Gartner: IBM Tops Oracle in Database Sales

The Gartner report credited IBM's acquisition of database vendor Informix in December of 2000 as the decisive move that pushed Big Blue to the number one spot for database management systems (DBMS). "The addition of Informix gave IBM the critical push it needed to take the market leadership position," wrote Gartner analyst Colleen Graham. "Without Informix, the contest would have been essentially tied between IBM and Oracle, which were separated by a mere $30 million in new license revenue."

Gartner's study showed that Informix added 3 percent market share for IBM in 2001. Combined with IBM DB2 database software, Big Blue earned 34.6 percent of the DBMS market while Oracle finished with 32 percent, down from 34 percent the previous year.

Oracle still holds the overall market share lead for relational database management systems (RDBMS), which represents the bulk of the $8.8 billion database software market. But Oracle's share slid in the RDBMS market as well, according to Gartner, falling from 42.5 percent in 2000 to 39.8 percent last year. IBM, however, grew with the help of Informix to 34.1 percent in 2001, up from 29.5 percent the previous year.

Oracle's share in the Unix RDBMS market also decreased last year, according to the Gartner report, but it retained a commanding lead with 63.3 percent of the market in 2001, compared with IBM's second place position of 24.7 percent.

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Gartner cited IBM's deep pockets as a major factor for Big Blue's overall database market growth. In addition to the Informix deal, IBM also heavily promoted DB2 and offered competitive pricing against Oracle, leading to unexpected growth for its database business.

IBM's purchase of Informix's database business for $1 billion was part of a multibillion-dollar investment into IBM's software business, which three years ago was sluggish and without direction. However, under Steve Mills, senior vice president and group executive of IBM Software Group, IBM launched aggressive channel programs and marketing campaigns for its four major brands--DB2, WebSphere, Lotus and Tivoli. The investment seems to have paid off as IBM moved ahead in the database market and also gained significant market share in the Internet application server market in 2001. Giga Information Group recently reported that IBM's WebSphere and BEA Systems' WebLogic are now locked in a dead heat for the number one market share spot.

Along with the lead change for database sales, the Gartner report also showed heavy growth for Microsoft's database business, which gained more than two percentage points in 2001, according to the DBMS market share study. Microsoft, with 16.3 percent of the DBMS market, grew more than any other database vendor last year, including IBM-Informix. In addition, the worldwide RDBMS market for Windows grew 11 percent last year, while the RDBMS market for Unix dropped 1.4 percent, according to Gartner. Microsoft leads the Windows-based RDBMS market with nearly 40 percent of the market share.