Into the Big Blue: Informix out of the game

Today's $1bn takeover of the core Informix Software database business by IBM marks the end of an era, and another day at the office for Big Blue.

Informix is one of those companies that succeeded in spite of its top brass. In the last few years it has suffered more CEOs than Spinal Tap had drummers, financial irregularities, and a presence in customers' minds that never did justice to the quality of its products.

A look at the IFMX share price shows a stock down approximately 80 per cent from its five-year high. IBM hasn't had to break the bank.

As of today, the top tier of database vendors shows Sybase as the one standalone specialist, and it has had a rough time too. No wonder it is playing up the wireless and enterprise portal strings to its bow.

Otherwise, IBM, Microsoft and Oracle are clearly the big boys. And that's something of a shame.

IBM, for its part, has been here before. Think of acquisitions such as Lotus, Tivoli and Sequent. These were all companies with good technology and reputations who lost their way. Enter IBM, smiling.

Informix is unlikely to get the autonomy of a Lotus (at least the Lotus of pre-2001). DB2 will remain IBM's flagship database product, and the Informix technology will have to be integrated.

Supporting Informix's 100,000 customers properly will be crucial to IBM. At least it has the means to do so. If they benefit as much as their new database supplier, the deal will be considered a success.

But for all the problems and mistakes and shareholder dismay, it's a pity to see a player like Informix taken out of the game.

IBM's Lou Gerstner features in silicon.com's Agenda Setters 2001. For more information, visit http://www.silicon.com/as2001