Sybase's leadership in the financial sector, with high transaction, ultra secure and massive data predictive analytics, eschewed ERP-type applications, and gives SAP a great wedge into the financial market.

On the surface, some might think Sybase vs. Oracle; yes it's the database. But, that is a war lost in the 1980s.  Sybase's share of that market is quite small, though SAP sales people quietly pushed their R3 with Sybase database vs. Oracle database.  And SAP already bought Business Objects. And other players have massively scalable databases such as innovator Exalead and of course Microsoft and IBM.

Sybase is one of the coolest in the mobile space with some hot properties and multi-platform reach on Palm, RIM, Symbian, Windows and iphone.  With MMS, SMS, IM, their ianywhere unit has big customers who use these applications every day in banking, healthcare, mobile work forces and the consumer markets, such as voting for reality game shows.

How SAP will absorb Sybase is another matter. They have truly diverse cultures!  Sybase's chairman John Chen has truly let a thousand flowers bloom in a young, empowered and innovative culture, with some very cool acquisitions over the years.

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