Ingres wants solution providers to know there’s a new channel program in town.
Ingres, the database developer spun off from CA last fall, consulted with existing solution providers to come up with a plan to help them boost usage of its wares.
The database itself, has venerable roots, it was devised by database pioneer Michael Stonebraker.
Executives at the current incarnation of the company say the code has been maintained and improved even during its years with CA, Islandia, New York.
The company is now based in Redwood Shores, Calif., just down the road from database kingpin Oracle, and has recruited several former Oracle execs.
It also seems to be setting itself up as the open-source alternative to Oracle in enterprise-class implementations.
“We have thousands of customers paying for term license, perpetual licenses,:” says Mike Coney, executive vice president of worldwide sales and support.
While he acknowledges that “free is a four-letter word,” Coney says the database is available for download under the General Public License for evaluation. “If they decide they want additional support, they can subscribe monthly, pay per CPU,” he noted.
Coney says Ingres has more enterprise-worthy roots than other open-source oriented databases like MySQL and PostgreSql and is setting up an enterprise-focused channel to build the installed base and provide pre- and post-sales support.
No one in an enterprise is going to run a piece of software around open source unless it’s been indemnified, is supported 24 by 7,” he noted.
