Sybase’s most recent version of enterprise mobile database and synchronization technology, SQL Anywhere 12, includes support for the iPhone and more automated management and administration. But Android support won’t be coming in this version.
The updates to the Sybase technology provides the enterprise mobility market--and potential new owner SAP—with enhanced infrastructure for maturing mobility deployments as well as a solid channel for embedded software revenue.
SQL Anywhere is the infrastructure backbone for an increasingly number of mobile applications on the market today, whether custom-built or packaged under the covers of leading software providers.
The newest version of the mobile database provides some proof points to why SAP is so hungry to acquire Sybase and for such a premium of $5.8 billion dollars. Sybase is the de-facto leader in enterprise mobility infrastructure, and possesses the assets to help SAP grow its business and secure its place in mobile, which the software giant sees as essential to its future strategy.
SAP Co-CEO Bill McDermott has publicly spoken about SAP’s quest for mobile domination and makes no excuses about what some analysts believe is a high price tag for Sybase. “Exceptional assets don't come cheap. This gives us the number-one position in mobility,” said McDermott back in May at SAP’s annual Sapphire conference.
SAP also gains a valuable channel with Sybase’s SQL Anywhere business, which provides a substantial embedded software business and is considered by many to be the go-to for mobility infrastructure for enterprise developers. Independent software vendors such as Symantec, PAR Pixelpoint and Intuit are public about their use of the embedded relationship they have with Sybase and their use of SQL Anywhere, while countless software companies white-label the mobile synchronization software and infrastructure to power their applications.
The new version aims to address what Sybase says is the growing need for low-maintenance database infrastructure. Sybase Director of Product Management Mike Paola says that the exploding volume of data coupled with the sheer number of databases makes it difficult and costly for companies to acquire high-priced talent to monitor all of the databases popping up to handle the growing volume of data.
“As devices and organizations are trying to become smarter and use information in more innovative ways and enhance data and devices to act more intelligently, there are not enough people to manage this large amount of databases,” said Paola.
That is why, says Paola, the new version adds self-healing and auto-tuning features that enable the on-device database to dynamically adapt to changing requirements, such as memory usage. According to Paola, the result is a more full-featured, out-of-the-box capability that enables an increased hands-off approach for the end-user.
“Cost of development goes down, ongoing maintenance costs go down, and performance utilization goes up,” said Paola.
Another new feature includes the addition of iPhone to Sybase’s current support of Windows Mobile and Blackberry, which means that Sybase thinks the iPhone is ready for enterprise prime time. Google’s Android remains absent from the list of supported operating systems in Version 12. Sybase’s enterprise focus and the increasing leeriness by analysts and business-to-business software companies of the enterprise-readiness of Android makes the absence of the OS not surprising.
When asked about why Android is not supported in the current version, Paola said that Sybase “is assessing the demand for Android and will continue to assess, and support for Android is not available in version 12.”
SQL Anywhere 12 also includes support for spatial data, so users can store, query and synchronize location-specific data. That means that offline application users can access, interact and capture location-based information in the database which still sync once the device is connected.
The new version also includes upgraded management, reporting and deployment tools designed to make deployment and ongoing management easier for large-scale deployments.
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