MySQL AB - Business Model

Business Model

MySQL AB representatives are commonly cited as champions of what they claim to be a "second generation" of open source companies. The revenues of both first and second generation open source companies usually derive from selling support, consulting services, and training for their products.

What generally distinguishes this "second generation" of companies, such as MySQL AB and Trolltech, from earlier "open source" business models is dual licensing — while the software may be made available under the provisions of some open source license, the software is, in fact, owned by the commercial companies who seek to derive revenues from selling traditional software licenses.

As an example, MySQL AB makes MySQL available under the GPL at no charge, but sells it under other more traditional licenses to clients who do not find the GPL to be ideal for their purposes, such as inclusion of MySQL AB technology in a closed source product.

Other sources of revenue for MySQL AB are providing support and consulting, as well as training and certification for MySQL Server. Together with some additional services, MySQL also provide this as a subscription-based product called MySQL Enterprise, which is also resold by other companies such as Dell, HP, and Novell.