Sybase will try to steal Oracle's market share among e-commerce start-ups with a package of products and services that will get a site up and running within 24 hours for a price of $US9,000.
Oracle last month announced a similar combination of products and services for $9,995. The package didn't include the training and ongoing support Emeryville, California-based Sybase is offering, nor did Oracle make a 24-hour commitment.
Time-to-market is important but can be outstripped by how serious the entrepreneurs are gauged to be, according to Kamran Mohsenin, founder of Berkeley, California-based Ofoto, his second e-commerce venture. Ofoto, to be launched next year, will offer photo finishing services via the Web.
"We learned that scaling was what this is all about," Mohsenin said.
The Sybase offering includes Java-enabled software, database and installation consulting and around-the-clock technical support for one year. The catch is, Sybase will install only Sybase products.
The service "directly reflects the statement of Sybase at TechWave '99: to get involved in e-business," said Ted Kempf, a systems-integration analyst at Gartner Group in Stamford, Connecticut. "The demand is so strong that everyone is getting involved in it."