Re: How long a future? (was: An interesting meeting with IBM)

Andy Kent wrote: > One thing that suddenly jumps out at me from this is: what on earth > happens after 2008? Presumably the pressure to move to DB2 or get out > could start within a couple of years of any code freeze - if 2008 ends > up being the date of the last update we could be looking at IDS being > desupporting as early as 2010. Maybe not that likely, but certainly > possible. > > What kind of organisation is going to consider major new investment in > Informix with that kind of life expectancy? Upgrades, sure, small > systems, maybe, but big stuff? > > Am I being too much a harbinger of doom or does the panel share these > fears? The point that mustn't be missed is the ultimate goal to make the two engines interchangable. If that's achieved, who cares whether it's IDS or DB/2? Sure, the underlying architecture might be different, but if functionality and performance are well matched, then IDS is definitely a good investment for today. IDS will keep going and is backed by the largest computer company in the world. OK, they're still one of the Axis of Evil (IBM, Oracle, Microsoft) but how easy is it to avoid their products these days?