Re Oracle as Gorilla or King--Maybe we don't have to agree on this, as long as we understand the issues. Oracle's "language" is unique to it, as are certain attributes of its RDBMS. These are open and proprietary, if I understand right. A significant value chain has developed around Oracle's product, exemplified by all of the programmers who know Oracle but don't know Sybase, for instance. This exemplifies Gorilla status in the large-scale database segment.
Microsoft is attacking from below, and using its Gorilla status in adjacent areas to do so. Among other things, they are leveraging their position with Office, they are pricing SQL Server much lower than Oracle used to, they are pushing their suite of related tools heavily. btw, I see the Oracle price decrease as being (1) more apparent than real, since heavy discounts have always been available to enterprise buyers; this simply extends those discounts to smaller users, and (2) a response to Msft's discounting; Oracle is still more expensive, I think (But, can someone confirm this?).
I see this as a classic clashing of Gorillas.
Best,
John |
