IBM Data Management Technical Conference, Las Vegas, w/c 26th October

I saw a post last week asking for news from the conference, and asking who was there. Well, I was there, as a member of the IIUG Board of Directors, helping man the IIUG stand at the conference's EXPO. The Informix User group Leadership Council (IUGLC) met on the Saturday prior to the Conference but, as I was unable to get to Las Vegas until the Sunday, I can't comment on that. My *personal* impressions of the conference were: - A decent amount of Informix content, relatively well scheduled. Unlike last year's conference the Informix content was well integrated into the overall conference. - I would say, from the Informix sessions I attended, that there was little new, ie little that could not have been said last year. This is of course a reflection of the relatively dormant state of Informix product set development: the engines are being enhanced but there is little IBM activity around the associated development toolsets nor (as debated ad nauseam previously) any direct advertising or much promotion of the Informix product set. - Having said that, there was one session on IDS 9.40 success stories, and a number of sessions on the integration of Informix with other IBM products. - There seems to be a general acceptance now that the battle for the promotion and advertising of Informix as a separate product set is lost, and that the IIUG needs to concentrate on advocacy with IBM on making the lot of the remaining users as comfortable as possible. There were a couple of interesting workgroups, covered by confidentiality agreements unfortunately, concerning the integration of I4GL into EGL; and the impressions that Informix users and partners have on IBM's efforts to make DB2 UDB more appealing to Informix customers. The Meet the Executives session was fairly lively, although with little of the acrimony of last year, with IBM execs talking about the quality of Informix support, marketing of Informix (!) and other topics. Finally, the IIUG AGM was held on the Tuesday evening. President Jerry Hamilton spoke about the IIUG achievements during his year-and-a-bit of office, and President-elect Stuart Litel talked about his view of the challenges and opportunities for the future. The IIUG Directors Award, presented to individuals who have worked on behalf of IIUG beyond the call of duty, was this year awarded to former Informix User Group Programme Manager Christine Shannon, and current IBM US employee and Informix evangelist Mark Scranton. A full account of the IUGLC, IIUG AGM, and other people's impressions of the conference can be found in the latest Insider, available also on the IIUG website at http://www.iiug.org/news/insider/insider_31oct03.html. Neil Truby t:01932 724027 Director m:07798 811708 Ardenta Limited e:neil.truby@ardenta.com

Neil Truby wrote: > There were a couple of interesting workgroups, covered by confidentiality > agreements unfortunately, concerning the integration of I4GL into EGL; and > the impressions that Informix users and partners have on IBM's efforts to > make DB2 UDB more appealing to Informix customers. "Appalling", Shirley? -- Ciao, The Obnoxious One "Ogni uomo mi guarda come se fossi una testa di cazzo"