Sybase Inc. () is a software company specializing in relational database management systems and database-related products. "Sybase" is also commonly used to refer to Adaptive Server Enterprise, the company's flagship relational database system. Sybase's original architects were Dr. Robert Epstein and Tom Haggin who both had worked at Briton-Lee and the University of California, Berkeley Department of Computer Sciences . Developed at UC Berkeley was the pioneering "University Ingres" relational databases system that led to Briton-Lee, Sybase, Ingres (Computer Associates) Informix (IBM) and NonStop SQL (Tandem), as well as the majority of other SQL systems currently in use.

Sybase became the number 2 database system behind Oracle, after making a deal with Microsoft to share the source code for Microsoft to remarket on the OS/2 platform as "SQL Server". At the time, Sybase called the database server "Sybase SQL Server". Until version 4.9, Sybase and Microsoft SQL server were virtually identical. Due to disagreements between the two companies over revenue sharing (or lack of), Sybase and Microsoft decided to split the code-lines and went their own way, although the shared heritage is very evident in the Transact-SQL (TSQL) procedural language as well as the basic process architecture. The big difference is that Sybase has a Unix heritage, while Microsoft sprung from that original Unix architecture and was adapted and optimized only for the Microsoft Windows NT operating system. Sybase continues to offer versions for Windows, several flavors of Unix, and for Linux.

Sybase suffered a major downturn in fortune in the latter half of the 1990s when Informix started outselling it by a wide margin. In November of 2005, a book written by a long time Informix employee was released that chronicled the battle between Sybase and Informix. Today Informix is no longer an independent company (having been bought by IBM). As judged by revenue, IBM has taken the lead in the overall database market with Oracle a close second. The #3 position is occupied by Sybase's own offspring, Microsoft SQL Server. Today Sybase is well behind its major competitors in the enterprise database market, with 3% market share(InformationWeek March 05). Sybase has recently returned to profitability under the management of John Chen, and continues to reinvent itself with a new 'Unwired Enterprise' strategy. The 'Unwired Enterprise' vision is about allowing companies to deliver data to mobile devices in the field as well as traditional desktops, and combines technology from Sybase's existing data management products with its new mobility products. Sybase has expanded into the mobile and wireless space through buyouts of smaller networking and wireless companies, such as AvantGo, and expansion into the Asian market, specifically China. Through its mobility subsidiary, launched in 2000, iAnywhere Solutions, Sybase has become the leader of the mobile database market with SQL Anywhere Studio.

More on [ Sybase ]

Business Applications - RSS Sponsorship

SaaS vendor quits browser to boost sales
Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:30:54 -0700
SaaS CRM vendor Entellium is phasing out its browser-based offerings in favor of a smart client version that it says sells faster, better and at one-fifth of the marketing costs of the old version. by Phil Wainewright
Open-source Castle Project founder joins Microsoft
Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:45:24 -0700
Hamilton "Hammett" Verissimo, the founder of the open-source Castle Project, is joining Microsoft on August 11 as a program manager on the Microsoft Extensibility Framework MEF team. by Mary Jo Foley
How to make Microsoft Silverlight enterprise fit
Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:42:02 -0700
A father and son team think they've found a way to make Microsoft Silverlight  more enterprise friendly. Navot and Gai Peled who run Gizmo, Ltd., an Israeli startup, have enabled their Visual WebGui environment to redirect Siliverlight calls across the network,...
A solar cooled air-conditioning system
Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:30:20 -0700
Spanish scientists have developed a new eco-friendly air-conditioning system. The researchers are relying on solar energy for cooling their devices. They claim that their technology does not harm the ozone layer and reduces the use of greenhouse gases. The research team has 'designed and built an absorption chiller capable of...
The fastest way to learn open source
Tue, 15 Jul 2008 07:00:49 -0700
Tim O'Reilly has taken everything he and his company have learned training people in programming for two decades and condensed it into the format of this series. Even I can learn with it. by Dana Blankenhorn
Eclipse gets its first Russian member
Tue, 15 Jul 2008 06:37:17 -0700
Eclipse got its first Russian member today with Excelsior LLC of Novosibirsk joining as an add-in provider. by Dana Blankenhorn

Subscribe to Software RSS feed