Open-Source Tech Focus: Information Flow

Open source no longer means second rate, and many of the industry’s largest vendors and solution providers are showing their support by throwing their hats in the ring with open-source database maker MySQL.

Vendors such as Ingram Micro, Dell and Hewlett-Packard are partnering with the open-source database company to provide services, software and support, and MySQL is counting on its expanding partner network to help it grow.

“Five years ago, we realized that our success would be dependent on the success of our partners, and that the database—no matter how glorified—was just a component of a solution,” said Mårten Mickos, CEO of MySQL, Cupertino, Calif.

“We started doing that, and today we have about 1,000 partners—some very strategic ones and some are the hottest new startups in open source,” he said.

Although MySQL is still a small company, it has come a long way toward proving itself and creating strong partnerships in the open-source community, thereby garnering powerful customers, Mickos said.

“We’re still a fairly small company, but we’ve managed to secure relationships with some of the most important players in the industry,” he said.

Mickos estimates that there are about 10 million users of MySQL worldwide. Its current customers include heavy-hitters in the e-commerce world such as Yahoo, Ticketmaster and Evite, he said.

“They are the survivors of the Internet bubble, and today, they are some of the most profitable companies,” he said. “They clearly have performance and availability as high requirements.”

MySQL’s product line includes the MySQL 5.0 Pro Certified Server, its enterprise-class database software, and MySQL 5.0 Community Edition, targeted at open-source developers and technology fans. The vendor also offers network support services, training and certifications.

Global IT consulting firm and solution provider Unisys last week announced its decision to partner with MySQL. It will offer MySQL software and provide consulting, support and integration services for the solution provider’s customers. Blue Bell, Pa.-based Unisys also will be the first reseller for the MySQL Cluster product that combines the open-source database with a fault-tolerant database clustering architecture.

“MySQL is a natural fit because as a player in the enterprise database space, it’s yet another weapon in our arsenal for us to be able to [offer a] benefit [for] our clients,” said Anthony Gold, vice president and general manager of open-source business at Unisys.