Database Vendors Vie For SMBs

The battle to own the small and midsize business (SMB) space has heated up in recent weeks. Vendors have announced a series of new pricing and related initiatives designed to extend their reach and, they hope, trigger a market comeback.

In October, IBM announced new pricing for its DB2 Express database software, offering an unlimited user option at $3,899, which Big Blue claims is 35 percent lower than its competition in the Windows and Linux operating environments. Since DB2 Express' June release, IBM has signed up 300 Business Partners and migrated more than 20 partners from competitive offerings. Standard pricing for DB2 Express on Linux and Windows is $624 for a base server package, with an additional licensing cost of $124 per user that includes maintenance.

The article continues at http://www.varbusiness.com/sections/news/dailyarchives.asp?ArticleID=46201