Re: thank you IBM
Not a technical problem thread — it's a discussion about IBM's stewardship of Informix. A poster cited a Gartner/eWeek report of declining Informix sales and claimed over 50% of ex-Informix staff had moved to DB2, arguing there's little point upgrading if migration is inevitable. IBM's Madison Pruet replied that the 50% figure is misleading (movement happened mainly right after the acquisition, and goes both ways) and that IDS 9.5 is an in-place upgrade with customer-requested features. Asked for specifics and a ship date, he said he couldn't discuss either yet, so no concrete answers are recorded.
Auto-generated by DrWatson from the posts below — may be imperfect; read the full thread.
"nobody" <nobody@devnull.org> wrote > I'm not sure exactly the point you are trying to make. > You'll see leakage from the Informix customer base for several reasons.... > 1) 3rd Party Aps not ported to Informix in future releases. > 2) Coporations changing their IT direction > 3) Customer want to consolidate their vendors and platforms. the thanks is for excellent marketing they have done to 'promote' Informix and dispelling any FUD to existing user base and ISVs. I have been told by an IBM employee that more than 50% of ex-Informix employees are now working on Db2. Yeah they are going ahead with 9.50. Who cares? What is the point in upgrading when eventually they have to migrate to some other DB. I told this many times before and I am telling again. Informix was better off when it was an independent company. At least we got to hear about it now and then. > > > > rkusenet wrote: > > http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1607925,00.asp > > > > Gartner put IBM's annual growth in 2003 at 4.9 percent > > (despite a big decline in sales of Informix products), > > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > > and said that Oracle sales grew 2.4 percent. The researcher > > attributed some of the overall growth to enterprises' need to > > build up their data management and reporting capabilities to > > meet the demands of regulatory compliance and general business > > intelligence needs. > > > > >
I think that the 50% is somewhat misleading. Yes - there were a whole bunch of folks that moved into DB2 immediatly after the purchase - mainly because there was some key IDS functionality that we really wanted to get into DB2 as quickly as possible and wanted to utilize some of the folks that had implemented the functionality in IDS to implement it into DB2. But the opposite has happened as well. Also, we wanted to try to move a lot of the IDS support model into DB2, so that meant that we needed to get some of the support organization switched to DB2. But there has not been that much of a switching arround since the early days. There have been quite a few folks working on both sides of the company the past couple of years. For instance, I have been used as a consultant for a lot of the upcoming DB2 8.2 and 9.1 functionality and fully expect to see that role expand quit a bit in the near future. However, I also have implemented and acted as team leader for a lot of the IDS 9.5 functionality - and expect to see that role continue as well. As far as migration - the reason to switch to 9.5 is the same as it was to switch to 9.4, it has quite a bit of key functionality that the customer base has been asking for and is an inplace upgrade. M.P. "rkusenet" <rkusenet@sympatico.ca> wrote in message news:2ip88kFp4dabU1@uni-berlin.de... > "nobody" <nobody@devnull.org> wrote > > > I'm not sure exactly the point you are trying to make. > > You'll see leakage from the Informix customer base for several reasons.... > > 1) 3rd Party Aps not ported to Informix in future releases. > > 2) Coporations changing their IT direction > > 3) Customer want to consolidate their vendors and platforms. > > the thanks is for excellent marketing they have done to 'promote' > Informix and dispelling any FUD to existing user base and ISVs. > I have been told by an IBM employee that more than 50% of ex-Informix > employees are now working on Db2. > Yeah they are going ahead with 9.50. Who cares? What is the point in > upgrading when eventually they have to migrate to some other DB. > > I told this many times before and I am telling again. Informix was better > off when it was an independent company. At least we got to hear about it > now and then. > > > > > > > > > rkusenet wrote: > > > http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1607925,00.asp > > > > > > Gartner put IBM's annual growth in 2003 at 4.9 percent > > > (despite a big decline in sales of Informix products), > > > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > > > and said that Oracle sales grew 2.4 percent. The researcher > > > attributed some of the overall growth to enterprises' need to > > > build up their data management and reporting capabilities to > > > meet the demands of regulatory compliance and general business > > > intelligence needs. > > > > > > > > > >
"Madison Pruet" <mpruet@comcast.net> wrote in message news:iaKxc.8893$0y.8843@attbi_s03... > However, I also have > implemented and acted as team leader for a lot of the IDS 9.5 > functionality - and expect > to see that role continue as well. > So what is coming in 9.5? Can you give us some idea what has might make it in yet?
Any idea when? "Madison Pruet" <mpruet@comcast.net> wrote in message news:iaKxc.8893$0y.8843@attbi_s03... > I think that the 50% is somewhat misleading. Yes - there were a whole bunch > of > folks that moved into DB2 immediatly after the purchase - mainly because > there > was some key IDS functionality that we really wanted to get into DB2 as > quickly as > possible and wanted to utilize some of the folks that had implemented the > functionality > in IDS to implement it into DB2. But the opposite has happened as well. > > Also, we wanted to try to move a lot of the IDS support model into DB2, so > that meant > that we needed to get some of the support organization switched to DB2. > > But there has not been that much of a switching arround since the early > days. There have been quite > a few folks working on both sides of the company the past couple of years. > For instance, > I have been used as a consultant for a lot of the upcoming DB2 8.2 and 9.1 > functionality and > fully expect to see that role expand quit a bit in the near future. > However, I also have > implemented and acted as team leader for a lot of the IDS 9.5 > functionality - and expect > to see that role continue as well. > > As far as migration - the reason to switch to 9.5 is the same as it was to > switch to 9.4, it > has quite a bit of key functionality that the customer base has been asking > for and is an > inplace upgrade. > > M.P. > > > "rkusenet" <rkusenet@sympatico.ca> wrote in message > news:2ip88kFp4dabU1@uni-berlin.de... > > "nobody" <nobody@devnull.org> wrote > > > > > I'm not sure exactly the point you are trying to make. > > > You'll see leakage from the Informix customer base for several > reasons.... > > > 1) 3rd Party Aps not ported to Informix in future releases. > > > 2) Coporations changing their IT direction > > > 3) Customer want to consolidate their vendors and platforms. > > > > the thanks is for excellent marketing they have done to 'promote' > > Informix and dispelling any FUD to existing user base and ISVs. > > I have been told by an IBM employee that more than 50% of ex-Informix > > employees are now working on Db2. > > Yeah they are going ahead with 9.50. Who cares? What is the point in > > upgrading when eventually they have to migrate to some other DB. > > > > I told this many times before and I am telling again. Informix was better > > off when it was an independent company. At least we got to hear about it > > now and then. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > rkusenet wrote: > > > > http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1607925,00.asp > > > > > > > > Gartner put IBM's annual growth in 2003 at 4.9 percent > > > > (despite a big decline in sales of Informix products), > > > > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > > > > and said that Oracle sales grew 2.4 percent. The researcher > > > > attributed some of the overall growth to enterprises' need to > > > > build up their data management and reporting capabilities to > > > > meet the demands of regulatory compliance and general business > > > > intelligence needs. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
Can't discuss specifics yet. But based on email I've seen, I think that we are on target. M.P. "David Williams" <djw@smooth1.fsnet.co.uk> wrote in message news:ca84fi$qqk$1@news5.svr.pol.co.uk... > > "Madison Pruet" <mpruet@comcast.net> wrote in message > news:iaKxc.8893$0y.8843@attbi_s03... > > However, I also have > > implemented and acted as team leader for a lot of the IDS 9.5 > > functionality - and expect > > to see that role continue as well. > > > > So what is coming in 9.5? Can you give us some idea what has might > make it in yet? > > >
yes - but can't discuss that yet.... ;-) "David E. Grove" <david_grove@correct.state.ak.us> wrote in message news:10cf6l69q5gvic1@corp.supernews.com... > Any idea when? > > > "Madison Pruet" <mpruet@comcast.net> wrote in message > news:iaKxc.8893$0y.8843@attbi_s03... > > I think that the 50% is somewhat misleading. Yes - there were a whole > bunch > > of > > folks that moved into DB2 immediatly after the purchase - mainly because > > there > > was some key IDS functionality that we really wanted to get into DB2 as > > quickly as > > possible and wanted to utilize some of the folks that had implemented the > > functionality > > in IDS to implement it into DB2. But the opposite has happened as well. > > > > Also, we wanted to try to move a lot of the IDS support model into DB2, so > > that meant > > that we needed to get some of the support organization switched to DB2. > > > > But there has not been that much of a switching arround since the early > > days. There have been quite > > a few folks working on both sides of the company the past couple of years. > > For instance, > > I have been used as a consultant for a lot of the upcoming DB2 8.2 and 9.1 > > functionality and > > fully expect to see that role expand quit a bit in the near future. > > However, I also have > > implemented and acted as team leader for a lot of the IDS 9.5 > > functionality - and expect > > to see that role continue as well. > > > > As far as migration - the reason to switch to 9.5 is the same as it was to > > switch to 9.4, it > > has quite a bit of key functionality that the customer base has been > asking > > for and is an > > inplace upgrade. > > > > M.P. > > > > > > "rkusenet" <rkusenet@sympatico.ca> wrote in message > > news:2ip88kFp4dabU1@uni-berlin.de... > > > "nobody" <nobody@devnull.org> wrote > > > > > > > I'm not sure exactly the point you are trying to make. > > > > You'll see leakage from the Informix customer base for several > > reasons.... > > > > 1) 3rd Party Aps not ported to Informix in future releases. > > > > 2) Coporations changing their IT direction > > > > 3) Customer want to consolidate their vendors and platforms. > > > > > > the thanks is for excellent marketing they have done to 'promote' > > > Informix and dispelling any FUD to existing user base and ISVs. > > > I have been told by an IBM employee that more than 50% of ex-Informix > > > employees are now working on Db2. > > > Yeah they are going ahead with 9.50. Who cares? What is the point in > > > upgrading when eventually they have to migrate to some other DB. > > > > > > I told this many times before and I am telling again. Informix was > better > > > off when it was an independent company. At least we got to hear about it > > > now and then. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > rkusenet wrote: > > > > > http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1607925,00.asp > > > > > > > > > > Gartner put IBM's annual growth in 2003 at 4.9 percent > > > > > (despite a big decline in sales of Informix products), > > > > > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > > > > > and said that Oracle sales grew 2.4 percent. The researcher > > > > > attributed some of the overall growth to enterprises' need to > > > > > build up their data management and reporting capabilities to > > > > > meet the demands of regulatory compliance and general business > > > > > intelligence needs. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >