Executive notes the merger “makes sound business sense” and will drive development of leading-edge technologies like the BridgeHead HEAT™ appliance
Woburn, MA – Jan. 27, 2010 – BridgeHead Software, a leading developer of healthcare data management software, welcomes news that Oracle’s $7.4 billion takeover of software rival Sun Microsystems is set to proceed after European regulators gave the green light to the deal last Thursday.
“This is excellent news for providers because both Oracle and Sun have healthcare-focused technology, as well as complementary solutions in this vertical,” says Tony Cotterill, president and CEO of BridgeHead. “It goes without saying many of these clients and customers use our data archiving, back-up and recovery technology as part of these solutions.”
The deal, originally announced in April 2009, means Oracle, the world's second largest software company, will gain access to Sun’s hardware, as well as its Java/Solaris technologies. “This will allow Oracle to further develop an end-to-end solution that rivals that of IBM and other major vendors,” Cotterill points out.
Oracle's move spells good news specifically for the BridgeHead HEAT™ (Heterogeneous Enterprise Archive Topology) solution, which was developed in partnership with Sun. HEAT supports seamless integration with PACS, HIS, and other medical records systems.
According to Cotterill, the “plug and play” HEAT appliance automatically identifies the value of data and maps it to the appropriate Sun storage system. Compared to Content Addressable Storage offerings, BridgeHead reports that healthcare organization may realize a 60% reduction in total cost of ownership over the first five years by deploying HEAT. In addition, he explains, HEAT reduces cooling and power consumption requirements up to 80%, and enables hospitals to trim the space used for equivalent storage capacity up to 75%.
The good news about the merger, says Cotterill, is that it ensures continuity for Sun technologies – such as HEAT – as well as enabling Oracle to extend its reach into healthcare, and compete head on with long-standing HIT vendors such as HP and IBM.
“Oracle holds a strong position in the North American healthcare IT sector, so having access to leading-edge technologies such as HEAT will allow the company to expand into the international healthcare sector, driving forward with a combination of advanced technologies and access to Sun’s comprehensive dealer sales and support channels,” Cotterill adds.
“For clients using Sun solutions, as well as companies developing solutions such as HEAT that support those solutions, this deal makes sound business sense. For that reason we fully support Oracle in its aims. This is a win-win-win situation for the two industry leaders, their customers and professional companies like BridgeHead Software,” he says.
More information about approval for the Oracle-Sun deal can be found here.
