back to article Oracle buying Ellison-backed Pillar Data

Oracle is buying CEO Larry Ellison's privately-funded Pillar Data Systems storage company. Pillar was founded in 2001 by Mike Workman, its CEO, and funded by Ellison's own investment vehicle, Tako Ventures. It has devised, built and is selling its Axiom storage arrays, ones using a 3-box design, with storage Bricks, up to 8 …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Mushroom

    Support costs

    Calling all Pillar customers! Quick get your support contracts renewed now before the deal closes! Once Oracle have their teeth into you, expect those support prices to rise significantly

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    Innovative?

    The only innovation Pillar achieved was spending >$500m of Ellisons and others VC money over 6-odd years and never making a bean. This really has cheered up my Wednesday, although I do need to wipe up the coffee I spat over my laptop, while laughing.

    Flames, representing the VC money going up in smoke.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Puts us right off!

    We had a rep from Pillar down to see us yesterday. Having had to put up with the shite service that you now get from Sun, to such a degree that we won't buy any more Sun kit, theres NO way that we'd buy Pillar once its owned by Oracle.

    1. bedrock

      there goes the tumbleweed....

      you won't be alone in that thought, that's for sure!

  4. Steven Jones

    Conflict of interest?

    Just a very slight smell of a conflict of interest here, hence the careful wording about the valuation.

    nb. now waiting for the Oracle DB being optimised to work with Pillar storage using closed APIs. Look out EMC, HDS, NetApp...

  5. Matt Bryant Silver badge
    Boffin

    In other news...

    .... a bear finally did its business in the woods. To say this hasn't been long-anticipated is like saying the Polar regions are not that warm! As a buy, it's pretty sensible, it gives Larry control of another chunk of the stack, and isn't as expensive an albatross as the StorageTek buy, and he gets to pay himself back a large wedge of cash at the same time. Winners all round! Well, except probably for the existing Pillar customers. With OEM rebadgers like hp selling 3pars and Snoreacle selling Pillars, it looks like Hitachi really needs HDS to step up and sell some USP arrays.

  6. bedrock
    Joke

    ...you do the math

    "purchase based on 3x revenues less costs... blah blah blah"

    ...$29M per annum in sales x 3, vs $544M owed... DOH!

  7. Smoking Man
    Thumb Up

    Some are lucky!

    Some friends of mine over at Netapp. Rumors existed for a while, that Oracle was looking after Netapp as next acquisition target. So now and for the near future the buddies are allowed to enjoy their job.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I was acquired by Oracle

      I got to Oracle through an acquisition, and fortunately I'm actually good at my job, so I kept it - that's generally how it works.

      Best move of my career so far, so there's two sides to every story. Don't believe all the (negative) hype...

  8. alwarming
    WTF?

    Misuse of shareholder money ?

    - Isn't Larry making Oracle shareholders write-off his personal investments ?

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    Thumbs down

    Is the purchase of Pillar a thumbs down vote by Oracle on the SS7000 ZFS appliances ability to challenge the traditional enterprise array business?

  10. Mondo the Magnificent
    Alert

    And the winner is........................................

    NetApp and their customers!

    After all those rumours that Elisson was interested in gobbling up NetApp, it's good to know that NetApp will remain independant and carry on with the good channel focused model that works so very well for the Integrators.

    Yes, we the channel based NetApp advocates can now breath a sigh of relief!

    Although the Oracle aquisition of Pillar comes as no surprise. It's Larry's money and he's just keeping tabs on it.

    As quirky and autocratic PIllar were reputed to be in the past, they had improved and hired some new sales bods who actually understand storage. It was all coming together so very nicely too, but it seems as if Pillar may now slide into the cesspit of bullshit that Oracle customers are so accustomed to.,

    Let's sit back and see just how channel unfriendly Pillar may become now that it's part of the Oracle monster..

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