Oracle buys Sun

If you haven't already heard, Oracle has announced (see here) that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Sun Microsystems (Sun).

My good friend Mark Rittman has a very good article on his blog (see here).

According to the Oracle press release:

The acquisition combines best-in-class enterprise software and mission-critical computing systems. Oracle plans to engineer and deliver an integrated system—applications to disk—where all the pieces fit and work together so customers do not have to do it themselves. Customers benefit as their system integration costs go down while system performance, reliability and security go up.

So what do you make of it? Personally I think it's a great move and will only strengthen Oracle's hand when it comes to vying with Microsoft in the marketplace. I think it was a deal that was always going to happen as Sun's Java is a product that means an awful lot to Oracle as most of their products require it to run effectively.

Of course, this also means that Oracle will now own the Solaris brand of hardware. So if the deal does go through, and I don't see why it should not, you will then be able to get one-stop shopping for hardware and software from the same vendor.

Personally, I say this is a great deal for Oracle and an even greater deal for Oracle's customers.

Charles Phillips, President of Oracle, today said the following:

Oracle's ownership of two key Sun software assets, Java and Solaris, is expected to provide our customers with significant benefit. Java is one of the computer industry's best known brands and most widely deployed technologies. Oracle Fusion Middleware is built on top of Sun's Java language and software. Oracle can now ensure continued innovation and investment in Java technology for the benefit of customers and the Java community.

The Sun Solaris operating system is the leading platform for the Oracle database. With the acquisition of Sun, Oracle can optimize the Oracle database for some of the unique, high-end features of Solaris. Oracle is as committed as ever to Linux and other open platforms, and will continue to support and enhance our strong industry partnerships.

Our customers have been asking us to step up to a broader role to reduce complexity, risk, and cost by delivering a highly-optimized standards-based product stack. Oracle plans to deliver these benefits by offering a broad range of products, including servers and storage, with all the integrated pieces: hardware operating system, database, middleware and applications. We plan to preserve and enhance investments made by our customers, while we continue to work with our partners to provide customers with choice.