IBM
While Microsoft and Oracle battle at the low end of the market, IBM's DB2 is still No. 1 at the high end with a 33% market share in 1998. But IBM has its dominance of the mainframe and AS/400 markets to thank for its market-leading position.

The real database race is on Unix and Windows NT platforms, where DB2 held market shares of 7.3% and 9.7%, respectively. But Janet Perna, general manager of IBM's data-management division, says DB2 sales grew 69% on Unix platforms and 131% on Windows NT in 1999. Perna says nearly 20% of IBM's database, business-intelligence, and content-management software sales were on Unix and NT platforms in 1999. (IBM doesn't disclose its database sales.)

By midyear, IBM plans to ship a new release of DB2 that will include scalability and availability enhancements for online transaction processing and E-commerce applications, as well as improvements in the database's business-intelligence and complex-query capabilities. IBM will expand DB2's sales channels to include ASPs, Internet service providers, and Web integrators.

Informix
Informix has been profitable for two years following a disastrous 1997, when the company had to restate sales and earnings as far back as 1994 and racked up losses of more than $350 million. Last month, the company reported revenue of $871.5 million for the year ended Dec. 31, up 19% from $735.5 million in 1998. But while Informix reported a $100.7 million operating profit for 1999, the company's bottom line showed a $12.2 million loss because of one-time charges for acquisitions and settlement of a stockholder lawsuit.

Throughout 1999, Informix focused on E-commerce, data warehousing, and business-intelligence applications. For instance, the company unveiled its Internet Foundation.2000 database and its i.Commerce and i.Sell software, all aimed at the E-business market.

Meanwhile, Informix continued to market its Extended Parallel Server and Red Brick Decision Server for data warehousing and data mart applications, respectively. In 1999, the company also acquired Cloudscape Inc., a developer of mobile and embedded database software for remote computing, and agreed to acquire data integration software provider Ardent Software Inc. for more than $800 million.

But Informix still has to determine how to integrate the Cloudscape and Ardent technologies into its product line--and problems integrating its 1996 acquisition of Illustra Information Systems was one reason the company ran into trouble in 1997.

Sybase
Sybase is recovering from the financial straits it struggled through for much of the 1990s. In January, the company reported net income of $62.5 million on sales of $871.6 million for fiscal 1999 ended Dec. 31, compared with a loss of $93.1 million on sales of $867.5 million the previous year.

The company's goal this year is to increase sales. "I expect that in 2000 we will grow 10% on the top line," president and CEO John Chen says. That would mean increasing revenue by nearly $90 million.

Sybase is counting on its new enterprise Internet portal technology (due in April), its expanding mobile computing business, and vertical-market business-intelligence systems to fuel future growth. Sybase acquired the Data Warehouse Network, an Irish developer of business-intelligence applications for specific industries, earlier this year.

While there might have once been doubt about Sybase's survival, Dataquest's Schroder says the company is "at least treading water, if not better. I guess many customers have decided to stick with them."

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Photo of Perna by Steve Castillo