Sybase To Roll Out Realtime Database

Marty Beard, Sybase's senior vice president of corporate development and marketing, spoke at the Gartner TechInvestor conference in New York, saying the company will "make more money" as it focuses on the unwired enterprise.

"We are going to reinvigorate," Beard said. "We'll be announcing a realtime database later this year. We'll be investing more in data management technology, under the unwired enterprise strategy."

Beard stopped short of providing additional details of the new database, but indicated the company was at the beginning of a significant increase in spending to market its brand, its technology and its wireless strategy.

Sybase, Dublin, Calif., is pursuing that strategy through its core database technology, which includes its SQL Anywhere, as well as technology it acquired from Avant Go--the mobile data/browser segment of its iAnywhere subsidiary, which it formed in 2000.

"We are seeing in our customer base that some very large enterprises are using mobile and wireless technology to significantly change their mobile and wireless models," Beard said. He noted Britannia Airlines as an example, saying the company had deployed a wireless data model to better control cargo weight on its flights--a move that is registering measurable savings in fuel consumption.

An $830 million company, Sybase has been able to maintain a healthy operating margin through the economic downturn by sharpening its focus, Beard said. Earlier this year, Sybase reported slight declines in both revenue and profit but believed both would increase with growth in its Wi-Fi-related businesses.

A key part of Sybase's growth strategy, Beard said, will be increased spending on marketing and brand awareness--spending that has been absent for the past several years.

"We didn't market," Beard said. "You didn't see us. We'll be rolling out a nationwide campaign starting in [the first quarter].

"At the end of the day, any company that is going to do any significant wireless and mobile rollout, we want Sybase on the shortlist," Beard said.

About 40 percent of Sybase's sales go through the solution provider channel, Beard said following his presentation. The company hopes to bring that number up to a 50-50 split between direct and channel sales, he added.