Introduction

There was a time when almost every trading floor from Hong Kong to Wall Street to London was supported by a string of Sun boxes. They were the inevitable ’server’ in the client/server evolution of the early 1990s. Its Java framework paved the way for the business critical use of Internet-based technologies and sent cultural rival Microsoft on the offensive.

So when news that the once mighty Sun Microsystems was ripe for a takeover, the IT press went into overdrive. However, many financial industry CIOs and CTOs merely shrugged. The deal will give Oracle control over Solaris OS and the much coveted Java institution and brand.

A random polling of senior IT staff at several tier-1 and tier-2 financial institution revealed a distinct lack of surprise or urgency about the Oracle/Sun merger. This is not surprising given the market share database vendor Sybase has in the financial industry combined with the generally average reception the wholesale banking world gives to IBM or Microsoft. A fair number of respondents commented on their increased use of Linux for mission-critical server platforms.

Key findings

• Solaris – CIOs and CTOs do not expect their Solaris licenses to increase post merger
• Customer Service - IT professionals are spilt over whether this will increase or decrease customer service.
• Competitors - IBM, Microsoft and Sybase may react with more competitive pricing in reaction to the Oracle/Sun brand.

Conclusion

At this early stage, the impact of the Oracle acquisition of Sun Microsystems on the financial services remains to be seen-if there is to be any substantial impact at all.

Oracle, though powerful, is not seen as the same type of flexible and innovative operation. It is not hard to imagine that Sun has lost a certain amount of brand reputation now that it flogged itself to Oracle.

While Java may be the jewel in the crown for Oracle, the vendor should not underestimate the role of Solaris or Sparc in its merger plans. However, turning its back on the open sourced Linux, in favour of Solaris, may also not be the best move for Oracle.

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Tagged with: 2009, mergers, Technology Research Report