Re: Re: Informix in the news! Part Deux...

Wasn't it in here that I read that Hell will freeze first before IBM releases IDS as open source ? ;) Although I really like some thing like this happen. J. -----Original Message----- From: Double Echo <double.echo@your.com> To: informix-list@iiug.org Date: Fri, 09 Dec 2005 15:00:05 -0500 Subject: Re: Informix in the news! Part Deux... DA Morgan wrote: > > If IBM wants to stop the hemmorhaging they are going to have to make a > rock solid commitment to the product and provide a long-term road map. > Anything less is just happy-talk and Informix's customer base will be > left with a choice of DB2, Oracle, or the fate of those that choose to > stay with Pick. It is rather interesting that even Derby is getting along better than IDS in mindshare these days. It's easy to understand why, there is no other real competitor in the Java db space now that Derby is open source. It just negates the need to look elsewhere unless there is some compelling reason to. Plus Derby is being bundled in as a no-brainer with several Java application tools. But it points out the importance of branding, and what the brand represents. The article had mentioned " The Information Management group is the only part of the Software Group that is not known by its brand name." This is indeed the bipolar , dual-core nature of the problem. IBM can't change the DB2 brand without implying that there is a brand problem with DB2 as the brand, because the-brand-is-the-product. Thusly, you can't have an IDS in the DB2 brand. People get this point without thinking. This is why IDS will continue to have problems. IDS is its own brand. Children can get this point, it's confusing why IBM doesn't just admit it. It's unfortunate that Informix could not be sold off to a new set of owners, who could perpetuate the Informix brand, and end the obvious confusion. IBM has too much invested in IDS in the short-term, but until the IDS brand can truly stand on its own it will forever be a question of its surviving in the db market. IBM must sit on it, only a fool would showcase their competition and dilute their top brand by showing IDS as a peer product. It just doesn't make sense. Of course there's always an open-source play, why not create the Informix Group, an open-source organization just like Apache or others, and have Informix Group own the product as an open-source product. Apache is the number ONE web server coming out of Open Source, think about it. Jean Sagi jeansagi@myrealbox.com jeansagi@gmail.com sending to informix-list