PointBase Packs Small Java DBMS into Handhelds

When Oracle co-founder Bruce Scott left the world’s leading supplier of large database management systems (DBMSs) in 1984, he knew that lightweight databases would be the next great hit. Fourteen years later, Scott founded PointBase, a San Mateo, Calif.-supplier of small footprint DBMSs for portable devices like mobile phones and handheld PCs where the financial services is leading the charge.

Early adopters, including traders and non-professional investors, says Aberdeen Group senior analyst Kelly Quinn, are using mobile phones and handheld devices to do things like trade stocks and access customer data, increasing the demand for small footprint DBMSs like PointBase’s. “These early adopters will ultimately drive the demand for broader wireless data applications like interactive e-commerce and banking,” adds Quinn.

Tom Bevington, senior technology analyst for L.A.-based mutual fund manager Capital Group is evaluating PointBase as a lightweight database subsystem for his firm’s distributed network of wholesalers and dealer-brokers. “PointBase offers a configurable palette of big database functionality, all in pure Java and with a very lean memory footprint.” says Bevington. “In addition to helping store, distribute and synchronize financial and sales data, PointBase can serve as the repository for the very Java applications that use and manipulate that data, sort of like a chicken pecking its own eggshell.”

PointBase’s Network Server DBMS was fully written in Java, allowing it to be hosted on everything from a departmental server to a handheld PC. According to PointBase vice president of marketing Art Monk, even with full multi-user security and row-level locking, the software occupies less than 1MB on a server. The PointBase Mobile Edition supports Java devices like Psion’s 5MX handhelds and Windows CE devices, currently being tested in PointBase’s labs. Both the Network Server and Mobile Editions are compatible with a range of operating environments including Sun Solaris, HP-UX, IBM RS6000, Linux and Windows NT.

The majority of PointBase’s sales today are in the handheld PC and PDA arena since most mobile users continue to primarily rely on handheld devices to access data. However, Jupiter Communications analyst David Morris says PointBase could fall behind if it fails to increasingly focus on the growing mobile phone market. By the end of 2001, Morris says financial firms will likely follow the lead of companies like Ameritrade, which recently inked a deal with Sprint to provide stock trading over mobile phones.

However, Monk says the compact size of PointBase’s DBMS footprint already enables it to work with the new generation of so-called “smart” mobile phones equipped with ever-increasing memory and functionality. PointBase is currently being tested on the Symbian Java environment, which will be employed in Nokia’s and Ericsson’s future wireless devices.