I am happy to see that SkySQL, a new home for MySQL talents, is being formed.
SkySQL is being lead by Ulf Sandberg, who was fundamental in building up the MySQL support, training and consulting organization at MySQL AB and will employ many of the original and best MySQL talents!
During the last 2 years, I have seen a lot of the people that originally worked at MySQL AB and who joined Sun together with me, go away in different directions.More than 50 % of them have already left Sun/Oracle. Even if many of them are still working with something that is related to MySQL, others have started new careers doing something completely different.
I have done my best to keep the MySQL core development talent together by employing them at Monty Program Ab, working on MariaDB, but I have not been able to provide a good home for the very talented support, training, consulting and sales people from MySQL AB, who I also care a lot for.
I am happy to see that there is now another home for MySQL talent being formed where they can continue to do what they do best; Providing support and other services around MySQL and also MariaDB.
This is also very good news for all MySQL users as this will ensure, in spite of whatever happens with MySQL at Oracle, that there will continue to be high quality support and services around MySQL and MariaDB.
This also solves the problem for MySQL customers that were using Oracle and chose MySQL partly because they didn't want to depend on only one vendor for all their database systems. Now they can continue to get all services they need from multiple vendors!
The forming of SkySQL is also in line with Monty Programs Ab's strategy; We see ourselves as the technical experts when it comes to MySQL and MariaDB and want to focus on doing development of MariaDB and L3 (critical) bug fixes for MariaDB and MySQL for our customers and partners.
Neither Monty Program Ab nor I have any active role in SkySQL. SkySQL will become a partner for Monty Program Ab, among others, and we will continue with our partnerships with our existing partners as before. By having a lot of independent companies working tightly together we will be stronger than ever before. We will of course have new interesting challenges, but I believe these will be easy to solve as all the companies have the same goal: Give the best possible services to our customers and to keep MySQL and it's future incarnations, like MariaDB, alive.
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5 comments:
I'm curious where you are getting that > 50% number? How would you have any access to that sort of HR information? Sounds like one of those numbers that falls under the "83% of all statistics are made up" rule.
Answering Matthew:
The MySQL Alumini in linkedin group has close to 200 members, a majority that also joined Sun and this group doesn't include all people that have left. I have also heard the number 50 % from MySQL people that recently left Oracle, so I have good reasons to believe that this figure is reasonable accurate.
I had no idea of this new group. Thanx for mentioning it. I'll immediately check SkySQL.com
I got some questions on what I base that about 50 % of the original MySQL people has left Sun / Oracle.
I don't of course have access to the MySQL HR data to verify the number. The number I gave was based on estimates from former and current MySQL/Sun/Oracle employees.
In the comments to a recent blog by Matthew Montgomery we have a bit more accurate information. According to MySQL's HR data, we where 450 people when we joined Sun and since then 240 has left. It's true that we did get some new people joining the MySQL team from Sun but this doesn't significantly change the figure of how many MySQL old timers have left.
To make it clear, I don't in any way meant any disrespect to Percona, or any other companies providing MySQL services, when welcoming SkySQL. Percona is doing a fabulous job in providing MySQL & MariaDB related services and Monty Program Ab have a good relationship with them. My main concern with Percona is that they are probably not capable of absorbing the 50+ MySQL experts in Oracle that are are actively looking for a new opportunity related to MySQL. To be able to keep the teams together, it's better if as many as possible could join the same company. This is where SkySQL can make a clear difference!
Why has SkySQL copied Firebird's flying bird logo?
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