Sybase, which has seen its database market share eroded by Microsoft SQL Server, is joining Microsoft's VSIP developer program.
Dublin, Calif.-based Sybase is now officially part of the Microsoft Visual Studio Industry Partner program at its highest, or Premier, level. It also claims to have some partner momentum of it's own, saying that the Sybase Developer Network has grown more than 30 percent in the past year.
"These are new, unique folks. Overall we have some 105,000 developers some with a focus on PowerBuilder, some on Pocket PowerBuilder mobile aspects, some on the enterprise database," said Patrick Enright, director of partner development for Sybase.
Enright said the number of developers making use of Sybase' CodeXchange online forum resources has grown 70 percent year over year.
As part of the VSIP deal, Sybase's DataWindow.net will be linked into Visual Studio.Net 2003's IDE. In theory the thousands of developers using Microsoft's toolset can now program for Sybase's offerings, which include its enterprise database as well as SQL Anywhere mobile database.
