Sybase held an analyst event today at the NY Stock Exchange, and reviewed a stellar year since their last one. Quarter after quarter, the Dublin, CA. firm has set new records for revenue, increased profitability, and gained market share. I’ll discuss more of the content of today’s event in a later post, but this one just couldn’t wait: free MicroStrategy with Sybase IQ as part of the promotion of Release 15, which I discussed here, as part of a new joint agreement (the press release is here
.)
The announcement went beyond what is said in the press release. Here’s the deal: MicroStrategy 
has granted Sybase a number of licenses which Sybase is choosing (with permission) to pass on to their customers. Microstrategy benefits because, candidly, IQ is doing very well and there is every reason to think its users would like their product. And with Sybase closing significant numbers of deals every quarter, there is real upside in seeding them with Microstrategy seats. If the customer likes the product, of course, there is an upsell opportunity. And both vendors – and the customer – benefit. Nice.
This is not what we analysts like to call a “Barney agreement” (“I love you, you love me…”) like so many partnership announcements. The two vendors have agreed on integrated packaging, joint product certification, and vendor-to-vendor technical support. But in addition, Sybase can now offer MicroStrategy consulting services and education, which is a much more concrete engagement level. One can expect that there will be some new business here.