Microsoft's Might

In our cover story this week, CRN Test Center Technical Editor Mario Morejon pits the major databases against one another in a request for proposal (RFP) price/performance battle that looks at the licensing costs and the performance of the top database products in both the enterprise and small-business segments. The results may surprise you.

Bottom line: Microsoft is making a big move in the enterprise database arena. And the company is set to crank it up another notch: CRN Industry Editor Barbara Darrow reports in a news story on page 5 that Microsoft is poised to deliver its 64-bit SQL Server to manufacturing next week.

What's really interesting about the CRN Test Center RFP is that it takes on the difficult task of comparing the arcane licensing and maintenance costs that make it difficult for solution providers to do a head-to-head price/performance comparison of databases for their customers. In the enterprise segment, the CRN Test Center analysis pits a Microsoft solution priced at $138,232 against an Oracle 9i Enterprise solution priced at $321,530 and an IBM DB2 solution priced at $191,250. Solution providers that ignore this critical price/performance comparison do so at their own risk. By the way, Morejon also offers an analysis of the open-source MySQL database.

The database price/performance battle comes with Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, Sybase, InterSystems and others on a midmarket collision course.

In my mind, the vendor that ultimately wins is going to be the one that does the best job with the channel. This means structuring a program with a pro-channel compensation model that forces direct-sales and services organizations to partner,rather than compete,with solution providers. It also means recruiting the right mix of partners.

Solution providers even now are choosing vendors to bet on in the midmarket database sweepstakes. Vendors that ignore the partner swing vote are going to be sorry. Finally, strong channel communication is a critical channel component most companies overlook. The choice is clear: Listen up and prosper, or clam up and crumble.

What do you think of the database war? Let me know at (781) 839-1221 or via e-mail at [email protected].