Re: Informix compared to other RDBMS

From: "Duncan Kinder" <dckinder@ahcbsd1.ovnet.com> > >I purchased the $99 dollar Informix for Linux because my survey of the >Informix books on Amazon.com suggested that a reasonably intelligent fellow >could make a go of it with Informix while I essentially would have to >abandon everything else if I went with Oracle. > >However, folks, let's face it. Oracle and IBM have a bigger market share. >There must be a reason. There is a very good reason: Oracle can market and can sell. There sales teams are ruthless and aggressive and their marketing teams are more so. They treat every deal as important, and they want to be number one. They are headed by exactly the right kind of megalomaniac to be an aggressive, successful sales-oriented organisation. IBM are more civilised, but still *much* better at marketing than Informix. (And anyway, they have the AS/400 market tied up. And that's f*****' huge. If I recall correctly, if they split off the AS/400 division into a separate company, it would still be the biggest "big" hardware vendor in the world! Even if that's not true anymore, imagine what a difference it makes to *their* market share having a huge, entire market to themselves...) God knows why, but Informix seem to think they don't need to be a household brand to get places in this market. Informix marketing is non-existent, despite the new marketing droid. Non-technical people don't see Informix as a viable alternative, because they aren't bombarded with things telling them how good Informix is. I mean, if I was a non-technical CEO of some company, and I was looking around, I'd see things like CNN/Oracle, I'd see Oracle ads in every paper and magazine, not just IT magazines, I'd see Larry Ellison making big noise wherever he goes about a "viable, cost-effective alternative to Windows", blah, blah, blah. Doesn't matter where you look, you'll see Oracle, banging their drum. They own mindshare. I've lost count of the number of times I've said: "You know Oracle? Just like that" when asked what Informix was. And I never met a person yet who hadn't heard of Oracle. Not one. Not even my mother, who still thinks an electric typewriter is too new-fangled for her. Informix seems to think that you don't have to sell something good. Oracle is living proof that you can turn a mediocre product into a standard, when there are better alternatives who don't push hard. Just like Windoze. Bob, you're a really nice guy. Informix is a very decent company, with outstanding technology. But you actually need to market it and sell it. I believe that the strategy to differentiate yourself at the top-end of the market and ignore volume is suicidal. That's why we fought so hard for the Linux port. You could have owned Linux, the way IBM owns AS/400, instead, Informix sucks the hind tit again. Beaten to the punch, not by a product, but by an announcement. I mean, hell, how difficult is it to make a bloody announcement? And then the marketing droid saying that her mother doesn't need to know who Informix is. Horsepucky. *Everyone* needs to know who Informix is. Who is everyone? As Gary Oldman said in a movie: "EEEVVVRRRYYYOONNNEEEEE!!!!!!!!!" AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!! WAKE UP INFORMIX!!! Stop hiding your light under a bushel. Oracle's gonna find out what you're doing anyway. Go out and fight them man to man. Stop being the sensitive, caring database for the '90s... Where are those pills? ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com