Re: Washington Area Informix User Group meeting - July 26, 2005

Lester Knutsen wrote: > I have very little respect for folks who whine and complain about > Informix or IBM marketing or lack or it. Its not going to change, get > over it and move on! I have and have built a successful career on > Informix projects in spite of all that. > You have also had more momentum as a consultancy than most, and have established clients. That's not the norm of the typical Informix bigot out there, who typically is a working man/woman in the IT trenches taking care of their family, at the mercy of the IT market with little to no marketing capability of their own outside of a resume. Most were either unable or not interested in running their own business around Informix. So you are the exception, and should take that into account. Notice I said "were" not "are" since most Informix people have moved on to other products so they can eat and pay their bills. Most people, not owners of consultant companies, have to roll with the market. Since the market and IBM said to hell with Informix, you can't honestly expect people to just run out and start using or recommending Informix to their management when their management isn't going to gamble on something they can't find people to support. They can buy the product, and pay for maintenance, then, they will have to most likely train people from the ground up to support it in-house. THAT is reality. Most of the people I see in management today, in a position to buy software are only going to risk their corporate asses on products they see advertised, and can find people to support it. That's just common sense. They see Informix as a liability, not something that is "superior technology". > I also have very little respect for folks who remain Informix bigots. > As Informix users we don't need to hid from other database technology. True dat. We don't have any choice. > As independent Informix consultants we have to keep an open mind to > whats going on in the industry and with technology. I went to a DC area > data warehousing user group meeting a couple of weeks ago because they > had an interesting new technology presentation from another vendor. > Great stuff, then, someone who knew me and what I do, tried to put me on > the spot asked a very pointed question on what kind of performance we > were getting with a terabyte data warehouse we had built, and I had fun > telling the about the great performance we get with Informix. > Since it takes considerable time to get your arms around a typical database product it used to be more important to have a strong identity with one database or another, simply because the market didn't like people who weren't deep on one product. The IT market is changing but only because the reality is that things are changing more rapidly than in the past, and companies are using more than one product. This didn't used to be the case. The job reqs on the job boards are reflecting that. But a lot of companies are also buying products simply because the application they buy uses a particular database. Remember, this is what made Informix great, the application front end, not the database. 4GL made Informix great, then they went and put the shared-memory engine on the market. Today, there is no need for the main stream market to insist on any one database--it doesn't really matter, that's why SQL-Server is gaining ground, same for MySQL. > I have build a very successful business doing Informix consulting and it > is growing!!. And I know there are others out here in the the Informix > user community that have done the same. I have also worked with most of > the other databases, and one of my favorite tasks is doing performance > benchmarks for a client considering a new project who wants to get the > best database technology. And, because I have worked with and tested > other databases, I can as an independent consultant go to a client and > say if you want a successful project you will do it in Informix. > Yeah, again you have clients ( plural ). This is exceptional, not the norm. Everything about your situation is exceptional. And here you are selling for IBM Informix, when we should see IBM Informix selling Informix, not a volunteer! At this rate, one volunteer salesperson, we should see some serious momentum come out of that! LOL! > I have heard this argument from before from an ex-IBM'er who complained > about presenting at one of our user group meetings because there was a > DB2 session that afternoon. Same complaint as in the email below. I > wonder why "me <headtailfeet@yahoo.com>" is hiding his identity here. Google? Back stabbers? Spam magnet? > Saying "Doesn't this continue to support the notion that everyone, > someday, somewhere will have to move to DB2?" is self-defeating failure > mentality. It's reality. > Its a little like folks who blame all their problems on > someone else, or like to blame things on IBM or Informix marketing or > lack of it. Now I am not saying IBM has great marketing, its just that > there is no point in complaining about things you cannot fix, I like to > spend my time fixing the things I can. > I would not presume that it couldn't be fixed. Sympathizing with the vendor is the kind of co-dependent talk the vendor loves because they don't have to pay or manage that. Complaining is something they have to manage because it costs them money. ( Interesting to note that "me" complains about negative talk last week, yet here he is complaining ( don't stop! :-) But back on point, the very idea that comp.databases.informix is available as an open, PUBLIC forum for people to talk keeps things out in the open, which is something any vendor has to manage whether they like it or not. Tough shit. Manage it. Start selling and advertising. That's what the VENDOR needs to do, not the developer or the bigot or the owner of a consultancy. It's quid pro quo, something for something. The vendor needs to belly-up-to-the-bar and support the very people who are using and deploying their product, not treat them like a bunch of whiners. IBM has one of the most cherished types of customers and users most sales organizations would die for: loyal users, developers, customers, and market anchors. Instead of exploiting that they ignore it. What a waste. > So, lets get back to talking about this great secret database technology > we all have and love and share. As for the WAIUG, we are an Informix > user group and we are out to assimilate the DB2 users in our area;) > Regards - Lester > You make IBM's job so much easier by speaking on their behalf--for free! Nothing wrong with that. But don't consider your situation the norm, it's not. Remember there are people out there that lost their shirt on Informix and are not going to just start using or pushing it again just because IBM puts out a few webcasts, and shows up at a couple of user group meetings. Most of the respondents here I've seen are owners of companies, very few responses from actual developers or people in the trench. When the mainstream market sees Informix as a real option, with people available to support it in the market who actually know what it is, then we'