Re: Informix left standing

--0__=SgzsWyhpWkDZLOH7o5RZjri0KKLNnu3I0E0uOk1hyrDe4xLLHDYpJEc4 Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Dave, I've had experience in different companies that have employed both approaches. In my own humble opinion, the 'one-stop' solution works for those who don't have the time or the technical skills to be able to differentiate what makes a product stand out from the rest. This is not necessarily bad bcos it still works and is deliverable. To deliver a solution requires much planning esp. with the suite of products available today. In the previous company that I worked for, Oracle was the corporate standard and no evaluation on my part was required. Devt. Tools and CASE tools were a forgone conclusion. Oracle was it. In this present company and one other company I worked for, we had the flexibility to mix and match. I am currently working on a data warehousing/OLAP project and after evaluating oracle, informix and other vendors out there, several issues which I believe are common to most projects surfaced : Time-to-delivery Flexibility Maintenance Scaleability Company viability and local/global support Cost-of-ownership Reference Sites Features & Functionalities In all of the above, we found that the Best-of-breed approach for the data warehouse/OLAP project was the way to go. Just as an example, anyone who has worked with Oracle Dev/2K and Des/2K as I have will be able to list serious limitations (eg. PL/SQL supported in Dev/2K is ver 1.0 while on the server end is 2.3) in those products which have affected the final deliverable. Many who have worked with Oracle and Oracle Express in trying to deliver a one-stop solution for a data-warehousing and OLAP solution will tell u that it doesn't scale well, has serious architectural flaws, costs a bomb, makes maintenance a nightmare and increases time-to-delivery significantly. After all this, there's still no guarantee that it will work. Some of the reference sites that we interviewed declared the solution a 'technological failure'. I'm not saying that a 'one-stop solution' is always bad and a 'Best-of-Breed' is always good but that one needs to do his homework to make that distinction, and I believe that, is what makes us truly IT professionals, cutting thru' the marketing hype and getting down to the real stuff. cheers!!! victor (Embedded image moved dkosenko@monmouth.com to file: 28/02/98 11:42 AM PIC31056.PCX) Please respond to dkosenko@monmouth.com To: informix-list@iiug.org cc: (bcc: Thian Leng Victor Tan/IT/SINGAPORE/BFI/BNP) Subject: Re: Informix left standing David Williams wrote: +>Oracle and Sybase are integrating tools and apps into their marketing +>strategy. Informix is focusing on the database itself without tools or +>apps. If you're looking for 'one-stop shopping', would you consider +>Informix? +> + If you are at the top end and need the best possible engine?? + + Do you really think Oracle and Sybase can do better than the dedicated + tool vendors like Microsoft and Borland who already have years of + tools development behind them? Well, I have to disagree with this sentiment. What I am seeing happen is more and more shops are looking to move away from the pick and choose approach, and are looking to one vendor/integrator for an entire SOLUTION. This was a lesson Informix should have learned YEARS ago from 4gl. When it was the app dev tool of choice, they got the tool sale AND the server sale. Now, if you are just selling the server, you have to rely on the 3rd party tools out there to make your server look good. If the app tool is crappy and the app runs slow, the user doesn't know the cause - they blame the whole SOLUTION. And the db server gets tossed out with the bathwater. And Sybase and Oracle don't have to do BETTER than MS or Borland - they only have to offer a complete SOLUTION that works fairly well at a price that doesn't make the customer pass out. They may not eat all of MS & Borland's lunch, but there is plenty on that buffet table to go around. Sadly, Informix STILL has not woken up to the need to offer workable SOLUTIONs, rather than just fast servers. Do you go out and get a new car by buying the best engine from one company, then the best interior from another, the best chassis from a third, etc.? No - you buy the one that comes closest to your needs/wants at the price you want to pay, and you put up with any perceived shortcomings. A lot of Oracle's success is due to the apps they sell (Oracle Financials), which makes the server sale (if you are buying the app, you have to buy the server). This is, by no means, rocket science. Dave --0__=SgzsWyhpWkDZLOH7o5RZjri0KKLNnu3I0E0uOk1hyrDe4xLLHDYpJEc4 Content-type: application/octet-stream; name="PIC31056.PCX" Content-transfer-encoding: base64 CgUBCAAAAAAAaAAsAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAABAGkAAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD1E9sTzRPHE8MTwhP1E9sTzRPHE8MTwhP1E9sTzRPHE8MTwhP1E9sTzRPH E8MTwhP1E9sTzRPHE8MTwhP1E9sTzRPHE8MTwhP1E9sTzRPHE8MTwhP1E9sTzRPHE8MTwhP1E9sT zRPHE8MTwhPwEwzIBgzYE8wTxhPDE8IT7hPOBtcTzBPGE8MTE+wTwgbCBwbCEgbCEgbCEsUG1hPL E8YTwxMT6hMMwgYHwgLCAwISwgfEEsMCwwbVE8sTxRPDExPpE8MGAwcCBwMCwhLDB8ISwgISwgLD BtUTyhPFE8MTE+gTwgIHA8ICEw4DDgLDE8USwwLCEMIG1BPKE8UTwxMT5xMCAwcDAg4TDgITwgIS D8ISD8ISBRICEcICwwbUE8oTxRPCExPmEwYCBwMCDgIOwgLDExITEhPCEg8GxgLDBtMMDAfJE8QT whMT5hMGwwITBgMCDhLFEw8SE8ISBgIDwhIDEsMGB9MDxwwHxRPDExPlEwYHAhESAg8CwhMPwhMP xBMPxRIQwgIDAgMCBtMDxwPEDAfDE8IT4RMHwwzCBgLCEhMCDxLIE8MSD8MSwwIQAwIDBgfSDMkD wgPCDAfCExPbEwfGDMIDDAIHERITEhMSwxMPwxMPwxPDEgIDAgMCwwMCBgzREwfHDMYDDMITE9YT B8UMyAMGB8ICBhLDAsYTEhMSExIPwhIHAgcCAwUQAgYRBgfSE8UTB8QMwgMMwhMT0hMHxAzLA8IM BsISDxESExITAw4DxBMSExITwxICBwPCAsMDDMIGB9ITyRMHwwzCExPPEwfDDMkDxQwHwhMGBxIT AhECEwMOAg7DExITDxMPwxIDAgMCBwMCDAYRBgfSE8kTwhPCDMITE8wTB8MMxwPEDMIHxxMGxBLD Ag4DDgIGwg/IEgIDwgIDAgwCEMIGB9ITyRMHDAcMwhMTyhMHwgzGA8MMwgfMEwYHwhLCEAIOAg4C DhDDAhIPxhIFAgXDAgUCEQYH0hPHEwfCDAcPDMITE8gTB8IMxQPDDAfQEwbDEhDEAhAOEA4QwgLG EgcSBhIGBcMCBcIGB9ATB8UMEwfCDA8HDwwHwhMTxhMHwgzEA8MMB9MTBgfCEhADEMICDhAOEMIC EQIDxxIGBwbCAgUCEQYHyxMHxAwHwhMHEwzCEwcPBw8MB8MTE8UTBwzEA8IMB9YTBsQSEAMCA8UC EQIDAgPDEgcSBgfCBgUQAhDCBgfGEwfEDAfGE8INEwzCEw8HwgwHwxPCE8QTBwzDA8IMB9gTBgfE EhACEMYCEQIDAsQSBhLDBsICEALCBgfCEwfDDAfKEwfCDRMHwhPCDAfEE8ITE8MTBwzCA8IMB9oT DBIHwxLDDBEDxQIDAgPDEgYSBgfCBgIQAhAGDAfCEwzDE8MHyRMHwhPCBxMHxRPDExPDEwzCAwwH 3RMGxxICEQPDAgMCA8MSBhIGBwYMBhACEAIGDMMTDBPCB8YTwwfHEwfGE8MTwhPDEwwDDAfeEwYH xxICEQPDAgMCwhIGEgYHBgwGEAIQAsIGB8MTDMYTwwfKEwzGE8MTwhPDE8IMB98TDBLCB8USAgMR xAISB8ISBgcGDAYQBhAGEAYMB8MMB8kTwwfHEwzGE8MTwhPDEwwPwgzfEwYSB8ISB8ISAhECAwID EgcSBwYHBgwGEAYQxgzDD8IHxRPDB8kTBwzGE8MTwhPDEwzDD8QM3BPCBhIGwxIGAhECAwIHBgcG yAzJDxMHzRMHwwwHxxPDE8ITwxMHDMYPxwwH1BMGEgYSBhLLDM4PwwwTDMcTwgfEDAfJE8QTwhMT xBMHwgzLD9sM0w/GDAfDEwzDEwfEDAfLE8YTwxMTxhMHxAztD8gMBgfIE8QMB84TxxPDE8ITyhMH xwzbD8sMEAUMBcIMwgYH1RPKE8UTwxMT0RMH2wwGEAYQBhACBQwFDAUMBgwHBgfWE8sTxRPDExPu EwYMBhAGEAIGDAYMwwYH1xPLE8YTwxMT8BPKBgfYE8wTxhPDExP1E9sTzRPHE8MTwhP1E9sTzRPH E8MTwhMMAAAAgAAAAIAAgIAAAACAgACAAICAwMDAwNzApsrw//vwoKCkgICA/wAAAP8A//8AAAD/ /wD/AP//////AAAAgAAAAIAAgIAAAACAgACAAICAwMDAwNzApsrw//vwoKCkgICA/wAA