IBM, Sybase join to put Wall Street on Linux

<strong>IBM</strong>, SYBASE
JOIN
<strong>to</strong> <strong>put</strong>
<strong>Wall</strong> <strong>Street</strong>
on Linux
BY CHRIS FORSYTH

WHY READ THIS?
FIND OUT:
How <strong>Sybase</strong> and <strong>IBM</strong> are “taking
it <strong>to</strong> the <strong>Street</strong>”
Why “coopetition” works
Why trust is as important as technology
THE TWO COMPANIES BRING THEIR RESPECTIVE
STRENGTHS TO THE FINANCIAL HUB.
PHOTO: CREATAS
IF THE NUMBER of a corporation’s representatives
who attend a competi<strong>to</strong>r’s
event is any indication, <strong>IBM</strong> is pleased
with its newly announced partnership
with <strong>Sybase</strong>.
No fewer than eight <strong>IBM</strong> vice presidents,
business managers, and strategy
personnel attended a New York
S<strong>to</strong>ck Exchange (NYSE) function in
November <strong>to</strong> mark the <strong>join</strong>t announcement
that <strong>Sybase</strong>’s enterprise database,
Adaptive Server Enterprise (ASE), on
Linux will run on <strong>IBM</strong>’s eServer
OpenPower Linux servers.
Guest speaker Joe Torre, manager
of the New York Yankees and the only
manager <strong>to</strong> lead his team <strong>to</strong> vic<strong>to</strong>ry in
Major League Baseball’s World Series
four times, might have been the
drawing card <strong>to</strong> the event. But that
would not explain <strong>IBM</strong> employees’
coming all the way from London;
Austin, Texas; and Research Triangle
Park, North Carolina.
The media, including The <strong>Wall</strong>
<strong>Street</strong> Journal (WSJ), The New York
Times, and the best business and trade
weeklies drew attention <strong>to</strong> the implication
of <strong>IBM</strong>’s extending support <strong>to</strong> its
software competi<strong>to</strong>r by presenting a
Linux server software package. Few
publications and commenta<strong>to</strong>rs failed
<strong>to</strong> note that <strong>Sybase</strong>’s ASE competes with
<strong>IBM</strong>’s DB2 software. For that reason,
Reuters, the global wire service, called
the partnership “unusual” and The
Register’s headline read, in part,
“Strange Bedfellows.”
ASE for Linux on OpenPower: a
Logical Step
With <strong>Sybase</strong> ASE for Linux on the <strong>IBM</strong>
OpenPower platform scheduled <strong>to</strong> be
available worldwide in the first quarter
of 2005, some media commented on
the significance of the announcement’s
setting: the NYSE. <strong>Sybase</strong>’s full-page ad
in the WSJ on the same day made the
SYBASE MAGAZINE | Q1 2005
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Feature
<strong>IBM</strong>, <strong>Sybase</strong> Join <strong>to</strong> <strong>put</strong> <strong>Wall</strong> <strong>Street</strong> on Linux
significance clearer, by showing a half-page close-up of a <strong>Wall</strong>
<strong>Street</strong> sign above the title, “Celebrating 20 Years of
Innovation.” The title referred <strong>to</strong> <strong>Sybase</strong>’s 1984 release of its
groundbreaking database and the extension of its data management
know-how in<strong>to</strong> the mobile enterprise market <strong>to</strong>
create the Unwired Enterprise concept in 2004.
“<strong>Sybase</strong> has a good presence in UNIX databases. Making
the jump <strong>to</strong> Linux is a logical step,” Forrester Research’s Noel
Yuhanna says, and “one with which <strong>Sybase</strong> can leverage its
considerable roster of cus<strong>to</strong>mers in the financial, retail, and
insurance sec<strong>to</strong>rs,” notes eWeek’s Lisa Vaas. Vaas also comments
that “<strong>Sybase</strong> is willing <strong>to</strong> swap its considerable clout in
financial services for <strong>IBM</strong>’s similar clout in Linux.”
Noting a “bunch of reasons” why <strong>IBM</strong> would team with
<strong>Sybase</strong>, Philip Howard, of Bloor Research, wrote in IT-
Direc<strong>to</strong>r.com: “<strong>Sybase</strong> ASE was the first mainstream
database <strong>to</strong> be ported <strong>to</strong> the Linux platform (back in
1999), so <strong>Sybase</strong> has more experience than anyone else
with running on that platform. Second, although <strong>Sybase</strong>
may have lost ground <strong>to</strong> its rivals in the general-purpose
database market [except in China], it remains the database
of choice in the financial services market and it is also a
leading provider <strong>to</strong> government. <strong>IBM</strong> wants <strong>to</strong> leverage
this positioning.”
Torre on
TEAM BUILDING
Yankee manager Joe Torre was excited <strong>to</strong> be with 200
financial services cus<strong>to</strong>mers of <strong>Sybase</strong>, including Bear
Stearns, The Deposi<strong>to</strong>ry Trust & Clearing Corp.,
JPMorgan Fleming, Lava Trading, and Thomson. “You
don’t get invited out in New York if you haven’t won a
World Series,” Torre deadpanned amid laughter, describing
the Big Board’s floor as “an exciting place.”
“This is an exciting partnership you’re trying <strong>to</strong> <strong>put</strong>
<strong>to</strong>gether,” he <strong>to</strong>ld <strong>Sybase</strong>’s Raj Nathan and <strong>IBM</strong>’s Per
Larsen. “It’s something that matches up with what we
do,” he explained. “It’s team building, getting the job
done—it’s your goal.”
A Compelling Migration Path
Raj Nathan, senior vice president and general manager of
<strong>Sybase</strong>’s Information Technology and Services Group, says he
believes that the <strong>IBM</strong> partnership offers a compelling migration
path, especially for <strong>Sybase</strong>’s <strong>Wall</strong> <strong>Street</strong> cus<strong>to</strong>mers that
want <strong>to</strong> reduce costs. Nathan bases his belief on research by
The Standish Group, which concluded, in August 2004, that
“overall, the most cost-effective solution running <strong>to</strong> date is
<strong>Sybase</strong> ASE running on Linux platforms.”
“<strong>Sybase</strong> ASE for Linux is an ideal data management platform
for the <strong>IBM</strong> OpenPower platform, which is intended
for enterprises seeking the most scalable and reliable Linux
solutions,” says Nathan.
He also notes that over 90 days, 15,000 free downloads of
<strong>Sybase</strong> Express Edition for Linux had been recorded. This
<strong>Sybase</strong> product, released in September 2004, was the first
enterprise-class commercial database <strong>to</strong> go from pilot <strong>to</strong>
deployment without incurring any costs.
Per Larsen, vice president, Marketing and Strategy, <strong>IBM</strong>
Systems Group, says that <strong>IBM</strong> is committed <strong>to</strong> providing
cus<strong>to</strong>mers with Linux solutions that help them achieve peak
performance with a low <strong>to</strong>tal cost of ownership. “Cus<strong>to</strong>mers
want solutions that run on high-performing, scalable, and
reliable hardware platforms while lowering costs. We value
<strong>Sybase</strong>’s commitment <strong>to</strong> our OpenPower platform with the
addition of <strong>Sybase</strong> ASE for Linux.”
IT World Canada greeted the announcement with the
headline “<strong>IBM</strong> could unlock bank vaults for <strong>Sybase</strong>,” pointing
out that the <strong>Sybase</strong>/<strong>IBM</strong> deal isn’t limited <strong>to</strong> <strong>Wall</strong> <strong>Street</strong>
trading and banking houses but extends <strong>to</strong> Canadian ones
as well.
The article notes the observation of Jamie Sharp, vice
president of cus<strong>to</strong>mer segments with International Data
Corp. in Toron<strong>to</strong>: The <strong>Sybase</strong>/<strong>IBM</strong> partnership could change
<strong>Sybase</strong>’s market share among Canadian financial institutions,
where it doesn’t enjoy the ubiquity of the <strong>Sybase</strong> product on
<strong>Wall</strong> <strong>Street</strong>.
“<strong>Sybase</strong> would be able <strong>to</strong> leverage <strong>IBM</strong>’s significant
presence among Canadian banks <strong>to</strong> push its ASE, using
<strong>IBM</strong>’s server platform as a way <strong>to</strong> get a foot in the door,”
wrote IT World Canada reporter Tom Venetis.
The magazine concludes with a quote from Sharp: “If
anything, this is a gift for <strong>Sybase</strong>.” ■
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SYBASE MAGAZINE | Q1 2005

When it comes <strong>to</strong> critical missions,
innovation is meaningful only if can be
delivered hand in hand with reliability.
TRUSTED TECHNOLOGY at the Heart of Critical Missions
PHOTO: CHRIS FORSYTH
INNOVATIONS—from camera phones <strong>to</strong> com<strong>put</strong>er networks
that handle billions of e-mail messages—seem <strong>to</strong> require iconoclastic
thinking. Yet just as important for innovation is trust.
Innova<strong>to</strong>rs must have confidence in certain core technologies
<strong>to</strong> allow them the freedom <strong>to</strong> invent at the “edge.”
Because it trusts its core data management capabilities,
the New York S<strong>to</strong>ck Exchange (NYSE) can develop
high-powered electronic trading systems <strong>to</strong> handle the
ever increasing volume and complexity of <strong>Wall</strong> <strong>Street</strong>
commerce. Similarly, the innovative next-generation ballistic
missile early warning system of the U.S. Air Force (USAF)
was built on information management technology that can
reliably handle critical missions.
When it comes <strong>to</strong> critical missions, innovation is meaningful
only if can be delivered hand in hand with reliability.
A mission-critical software system earns the highest
security rating when it’s tried and tested repeatedly, known
<strong>to</strong> perform seamlessly when integrated with other systems,
and capable of responding <strong>to</strong> every known event—and some
that haven’t even been imagined.
One technology that has all these characteristics is <strong>Sybase</strong>
Adaptive Server Enterprise (ASE).
The Standish Group, in a report issued in August 2004,
concluded that ASE running on Linux platforms in the business
world is the most cost-effective solution, compared <strong>to</strong> Oracle,
<strong>IBM</strong> DB2, and Microsoft SQL databases.
The <strong>Sybase</strong> technology is the core of the NYSE’s demanding
trading system, handling billions of transactions while being
able <strong>to</strong> evaluate each for fraud and ties <strong>to</strong> clandestine terrorist
financing activities. The USAF’s space-based system uses ASE
on mobile satellite ground stations for the new ballistic missile
early warning system.
If you’ve ever bought or sold securities, the odds are
that Goldman Sachs, the Fortune 500 trading company,
was in some way involved. Goldman Sachs employs more
than 36,000 ASE databases <strong>to</strong> field more than five million
transactions a day. <strong>Sybase</strong> has such a reliable re<strong>put</strong>ation
on <strong>Wall</strong> <strong>Street</strong> that the Tower Group research company set
out <strong>to</strong> establish just how far the company’s reach extended.
It found that <strong>Sybase</strong> technology drives more than half of
the <strong>Street</strong>’s transactions. <strong>Sybase</strong> cus<strong>to</strong>mers include Bank
of New York, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase,
Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, and Sumi<strong>to</strong>mo-Mitsui
Banking Corp.
If you’re among the millions who have an AOL account,
it’s likely that you’ve added <strong>to</strong> the more than one billion
e-mails and instant messages that AOL trusts ASE <strong>to</strong>
handle every day.
As the U.S. and its allies wage a new kind of war
against terror, they fight not only with weapons but
also with com<strong>put</strong>ers, financial systems, and the courts.
The U.S.’s intelligence community trusts <strong>Sybase</strong>
technology <strong>to</strong> perform antiterrorism analytics and
calculations that inform the nation’s first responders.
Joseph R. Fox, whose company, Integrated Data
Systems (IDS), partners with <strong>Sybase</strong> in the Washing<strong>to</strong>n,
D.C., intelligence community, says that it’s very important
<strong>to</strong> have a cutting-edge product. “But for us it is even more
important <strong>to</strong> have trust.”
That is why the NYSE, the USAF, the U.S. Navy, the
FBI, the Department of Defense, scores of <strong>Wall</strong> <strong>Street</strong>
firms, AOL, and many more companies and organizations
that require their systems <strong>to</strong> be mission-critical place
their confidence in ASE.—CF
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