EnterpriseDB Offers Options To Oracle Lock-In

Technically, Oracle, IBM and Microsoft hold more than 85 percent of the relational database market, so VARs and ISVs can be forgiven for thinking that they have few options when picking a database around which to build their solutions. EnterpriseDB, which has developed an Oracle-compatible database based on the open-source PostgreSQL database, is touting itself as an alternative.

"There's an oligopoly out there," said Andy Astor, CEO of EnterpriseDB. "Our fundamental approach is to disrupt that oligopoly of the enterprise database market."

EnterpriseDB, Iselin, N.J., was founded in early 2004 and launched its EnterpriseDB Advanced Server database a little more than a year later. Applications written for the Oracle database will run on EnterpriseDB Advanced Server without modification and, according to the company, at a cost up to 80 percent less. (EnterpriseDB provides a calculator on its Web site where prospective customers can compare Oracle licensing costs to EnterpriseDB subscription fees.)

The company and its software are certainly getting noticed. At the LinuxWorld conference in San Francisco last month, EnterpriseDB Advanced Server won the show's product excellence award for best database solution, beating out Oracle 11g and other competitors.

Until recently, however, EnterpriseDB's sales in the United States have been almost all direct with limited sales through the channel, acknowledges Bill Doyle, senior vice president for development. But that's about to change. In July, the company inaugurated a partner program to recruit resellers, systems integrators, OEMs and ISVs. The program offers full-use development and demonstration licenses, access to a certification lab, technical training and support, and marketing and sales support, including free sales training, help from the vendor's sales engineers, and sales tools and joint marketing collateral.

Astor predicts that partners could account for as much as 30 percent to 40 percent of EnterpriseDB's sales by the end of next year. "A major part of our revenue pull will be OEMs and companies that sell Enterprise DB with their apps," he says.

One such ISV is Compiere, a developer of open-source ERP and CRM applications. Previously available for Oracle's database, Compiere's software was recently certified to run on EnterpriseDB. "We did that primarily to provide our installed base and sales prospects with a choice," says Bill Freedman, Compiere director of marketing. (Compiere also belongs to Oracle's Partner Network.) Compiere bundles EnterpriseDB Advanced Server licenses with its apps and support services which, in turn, are largely sold through the application vendor's own channel network.

Why EnterpriseDB rather than the popular MySQL, another database that's also based on open-source technology? The Oracle compatibility is one selling point. The PostgreSQL technology EnterpriseDB is based on is more robust and offers more enterprise-class features, such as advanced capabilities for developing cross-table database views, Freedman says. So far, Compiere's move seems to be paying off. "We have seen a nice [sales] uptake on EnterpriseDB," Freedman says.

At LinuxWorld, EnterpriseDB unveiled an all-in-one installation package for the database for Linux servers, EnterpriseDB Postgres, which includes open-source database components such as administration tools, a replication engine, and security and encryption software. It also enhanced the database for complex data warehouse and business intelligence tasks by adding parallel query capabilities to the product through its new GridSQL for EnterpriseDB Advanced Server.