Once a leading light in the realm of databases, Sybase was distinguished as an innovator and driving force in its era. The current rebranding under SAP has transitioned Sybase into the Adaptive Server Enterprise (ASE).
Sybase was a highly regarded relational enterprise database management system amongst its users. The enthusiasm of Sybase customers was predominantly directed towards its quick transaction processing capabilities. Moreover, it was lauded for several other state-of-the-art features such as unparalleled data security, superior availability, most notably, its overall affordability, indicated by its attractive Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
The acquisition of Sybase by SAP marked a notable shift in the software’s development direction. It appears that SAP is emphasizing its own pivotal product, HANA, and identifying SAP’s cloud strategy as the next significant database products. This change in focus left traditional Sybase users in a dilemmatic situation.
Reviewing the informational materials being disseminated by SAP, it seems that Sybase is not a fundamental part of SAP’s upcoming product roadmap. A retrospective glance at the growth curve of Sybase reveals that the enhancements, which used to be substantial and frequent, have gradually decreased over the past years.
Advantages of Sybase ASE Over the Years
Sybase managed to root a strong presence in the market with its unique set of features that catered to a wide variety of user needs. Below are some of the many reasons why it remained a favorite for many:
- Exceptional Transaction Processing Speed: Sybase ensured swift and smooth transactions, enabling businesses to fulfill their operations seamlessly;
- Admirable Data Security: It provided users a secure platform to access, manage, and store their information without any worries;
- High Availability: Sybase rarely suffered from downtime and offered consistent performance;
- Low Total Cost of Ownership: Sybase was affordable, making it an attractive option compared to other platforms on the market.
SAP’s New Direction and Its Impact on Sybase Users
SAP’s acquisition of Sybase appears to have altered the focus. SAP is now seemingly pushing its pet product, HANA, and honing its cloud strategy as the next big thing in the database market. This has left Sybase users unsure about the platform’s future.
SAP’s publicized information seems to indicate that Sybase’s importance in their product roadmap is diminishing. The changes and improvements that were once a regular part of Sybase releases have dwindled over time.
Peeling Back the Curtain: A Look at Sybase’s Future under SAP
Despite the lack of substantial public conversations or announcements involving Sybase within SAP, the following observations suggest a change of course for the database system:
- Mainstream Maintenance for Sybase ASE Nearing End: A notable development can be seen in SAP’s published Note 1922006 – “EoMM Dates for Adaptive Server Enterprise 15.0.3, 15.5, 15.7, and 16.0 – SAP ASE.” According to this note, Sybase ASE’s EoMM for versions 15.7 and 16.0 are slated for 12/31/2020 and 12/31/2025 respectively. The EoMM implies ceasing all patches and improvements, although support is not ending just yet;
- Innovation at a Standstill: The previous significant release of Sybase, version 16.0, failed to introduce any groundbreaking innovations. Moreover, no significant future enhancements are expected for Sybase products. The prevailing discussions and SAP’s trajectory suggest a shift of focus towards catalyzing migrations to HANA, cloud solutions, or both. The SAP Transformation Navigator is being utilized as a medium to drive this digital transformation, further diverting attention away from Sybase;
- Significant Layoffs at SAP: An extensive wave of layoffs occurred at SAP in March 2019, with most of the affected employees being Sybase staff, while HANA and ABAP developers were retained;
- Lack of Product Promotion Strategy for Sybase: A noticeable decline in promotional efforts for Sybase is evident compared to SAP’s other product lines. The reduction in marketing resources indicates a lack of commitment to promote or sustain Sybase ASE products;
- Waning Interest in Sybase Among Tech Communities: Despite thousands of deployments, interest in Sybase appears to be dwindling within tech communities. A large number of Sybase customers, including banks, tech firms, and even Wall Street firms, have shown less interest in Sybase.
Even after conducting independent research across numerous publications, user groups, and communities, a significant drop in engagement and request for information about Sybase have been observed. There is a stark absence of Sybase-specific event materials for over a year now.
Are You Considering a Transition from Sybase to Google Cloud Platform?
Let’s delve into the potential circumstances ahead:
While it’s not our intention to tarnish the reputation of SAP or stir up anti-Sybase sentiments, we’re simply striving to emulate the prevalent industry conditions and compare it with the overtly visible motives based on the points discussed above.
In our perspective, Sybase needs to exhibit a higher degree of innovation in case SAP wishes to retain and expand this ecosystem. This would, however, require adequate resource allocation for Sybase products and its customers.
There’s a tangible possibility that customers may have to reconcile with the deteriorating quality of Sybase support as soon as this year. This might be accompanied by formidable, supplementary fixed licensing expenses.
For a lot of customers, this could actually be a boon. With the advent of cloud technologies, a host of database systems have become much more affordable, offering attractive incentives that might even offset long-term licensing costs, backup expenses and discounted support, all without necessitating any modifications to the application itself.
You can sit back and relax – Your deployment and database are safe.
Many organizations are opting to substitute SAP-provided databases with third-party databases that are fully compatible with Sybase and the applications that utilize the Sybase database. These databases come bundled with support and have the potential to save over 50% on costs when compared to their present databases and infrastructure. The benefits of self-managed and self-tuning capabilities more than justify this decision from a cost, flexibility, maintainability and management standpoint.
The alternative option of sticking with Sybase might involve transitioning to SAP Hana. Bear in mind, this switch could entail migrations or upgrades, potentially leading to a surge in licensing and other costs. There’s a likelihood it might even require new hardware among other necessities including sourcing and training relevant talent and sustaining skill levels. In this scenario, your organization may have to rely on SAP consulting to provide this form of assistance – a service which could rapidly become a substantial fixed cost on top of any other SAP-imposed requirements since a lock-in period is usually involved.
Acumen Velocity is a team of global application and technology specialists proficient in supporting a wide variety of Sybase and other database and data platform offerings. Our services extend across multiple data and database environments in companies like Capital One Bank, CBS Radio, United Health, Honda, the US Federal government, etc. Our international team is thoroughly knowledgeable about the supporting technology stacks of the data and database operations and services.
We provide continuous monitoring support and migration solutions for Sybase applications and Sybase in combination with SQL Server, Oracle enterprise applications to the cloud, on-premise or private cloud as per client needs.
Our proprietary migration utility is loaded with features to facilitate cross-database conversion and migration as hassle-free and seamless as possible. Having worked with both large and small companies, we understand the intricacies and limitations of legacy applications and database technologies. Our purpose for the past 20+ years has been to enable the transition to more efficient enterprise architectures, thereby reducing the operational burden of managing and paying for a physical infrastructure. The cherry on the top is that we also enable you to extract insights from your data via our data platform solutions and analytics using industry-standard tools that integrate seamlessly and are interoperable.
Conclusion
The continuous evolution of the technology landscape necessitates businesses to embrace change and adapt to shifts in paradigms. The transformation of Sybase into SAP ASE epitomizes this trend. As we move towards a new era of database management, the decision to migrate to more robust and flexible platforms like Google Cloud Platform might not just be a matter of choice, but a strategic imperative. Businesses equipped with the right tools and a proactive mindset can navigate this shift more effectively, ensuring their operational agility and competitiveness in an increasingly digital world.