IBM to relegate DB2 to the mainframe and IDS (Informix) to LUW

While IBM is busy being hush hush about their Sun talks, there's one 'rumor' that has leaked out. It appears that a certain leader (Ambush) has been looking over the qtr/qtr and yr/yr growth numbers for Informix as well as DB2 'distributed'. (LUW) Note that the DB2 numbers do not include their embedded sales as part of their Content Management product, or DB2 embedded in other SWG offerings. The conclusion that he came to is that in moving forward the amount of product overlap between DB2 and IDS would continue to add to their (IBM) ability to sell either product. Even 'letting the customer choose' strategy opens the door to a potential Oracle sale and since S&D is more interested in selling services (more money, more margin) there is no resistance on the part of S&D to stop an Oracle sale. In fact, IMHO, it sounds like outside of the ol 80/20 rule, most customers don't wish to purchase the entire 'blue stack'. But I digress. The point of this important rumor is that IBM will continue to sell DB2 to its existing customers running DB2 in the LUW space. They'll work with other pillars in SWG to embed either DB2 or now IDS as part of their offering, and they'll be focusing on IDS for the LUW market. DB2 on LUW won't go away. It will still be updated and in synch with their mainframe releases. There will still be cross pollination between DB2 and IDS, however, in moving towards the cloud, shared nothing (XPS) market places, IBM will lead with Informix! With respect to the Sun acquisition, the official word is " ", well silence. Being Gumby, they're ignoring me because they're afraid I'd blab about it here and now. :-) But assuming that the acquisition goes through, there's even another rumor circulating on that front too.... It appears that Mark Townsend was right. You put mySQL on top of SE (IDS Standard Engine) and you continue with it. It will hit a market segment where even IDS Express is too much and the business model would look much like it does under Sun. Oops! There goes the innodb sales down the toilet! I don't know what they plan to do with the code, since there are a couple of forks already out there. They may want to move it to Apache which would kill all of the mySQL 'clones', but still keep the mySQL brand alive and on top of SE, it sounds like they'll capture the hearts and minds of the developers that Timmy kept screaming about. This would be a bit of a model like Sun's JavaDB. Of course if they put SE in to production, then someone is going to have to pay a license fee, but man, that's going to be a tough one to catch. Ok, sorry for the long post and mixing my own personal opinions in to these rumors. But hey! You know me. :-) -G

> IBM will lead with Informix! Way ahead of you - here's the latest Oracle Training Course - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByZqx30OvVs

Mark Townsend wrote: > > IBM will lead with Informix! > > Way ahead of you - here's the latest Oracle Training Course - > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByZqx30OvVs Typical... The guy teaching (supposedly an Oracle instructor) stills the food from and kills the customer (the students). One thing to note is that he shouts very loud... Nothing new. Regards. -- Fernando Nunes Portugal http://informix-technology.blogspot.com My email works... but I don't check it frequently...

Ian Michael Gumby wrote: > While IBM is busy being hush hush about their Sun talks, there's one > 'rumor' that has leaked out. > > It appears that a certain leader (Ambush) has been looking over the > qtr/qtr and yr/yr growth numbers for Informix as well as DB2 > 'distributed'. (LUW) Note that the DB2 numbers do not include their > embedded sales as part of their Content Management product, or DB2 > embedded in other SWG offerings. Ok, is this another 4/1 joke, Gumby? Interesting post, but the post date makes me suspicious . . . 8-) JWC

> From: jwcarlson1@yahoo.com.invalid > Subject: Re: IBM to relegate DB2 to the mainframe and IDS (Informix) to LUW > Date: Thu, 2 Apr 2009 20:53:57 -0400 > To: informix-list@iiug.org > > Ian Michael Gumby wrote: > > While IBM is busy being hush hush about their Sun talks, there's one > > 'rumor' that has leaked out. > > > > It appears that a certain leader (Ambush) has been looking over the > > qtr/qtr and yr/yr growth numbers for Informix as well as DB2 > > 'distributed'. (LUW) Note that the DB2 numbers do not include their > > embedded sales as part of their Content Management product, or DB2 > > embedded in other SWG offerings. > > Ok, is this another 4/1 joke, Gumby? Interesting post, but the post > date makes me suspicious . . . 8-) > > JWC Nothing gets by you... :-) Yes, unfortunately it is an April 1 joke. What makes it interesting is that there is actually a compelling reason to actually do this. I am surprised Ambush hasn't already run the numbers, or is he afraid of killing the sacred cow? (Sorry, no pun intended. Really. :-P ) If you run the numbers... 1) Break out DB2 sales by platform. (LUW, I, Z) Do this since '02. 1a) Also break out the 'embedded sales', that is IBM products that are sold outside the pillar that use DB2. 2) Compare LUW numbers to Informix's LUW numbers. 3) Apply the 80/20 rule to get a better picture of the market penetration. That is to say, chart the customers based on the number of licenses they have. Then find the average, std deviation, mean, number of licenses per customer and chart it out. I don't know the numbers so I don't know what the graphs will look like. You can do the same on a revenue number too, but because of the extreme discounting that occurs with larger clients, it becomes a bit more difficult to paint a clear picture. Now if you apply the old 80/20 maxim and remove the top 20 customers that account for 80% of your revenue, what do the numbers show? My guess is that Informix is going to show that there is a larger customer base once you apply the 80/20 rule and that the bulk of the IBM DB2 customers are also DB2 I and Z customers. The key is which database is going to deliver consistent gains within the 'white space'? My bet is on IDS, but again I'm biased. If I were Alyse, I'd actually sit down and run the numbers. Of course I seriously doubt that its Alyse's strong suit. Maybe she should find one of her minions to do it and then have the results audited. (Wouldn't want any bias one way or the other... ;-) If Ambush is brave enough to run the numbers, it should paint things in a different light. You don't want to kill the sacred cow, but you would want to 'put it out to pasture'. That is, continue to support the cow for their customers, but craft an LUW strategy of leading with IDS and in the I and Z space, of course lead with DB2. If the stories/rumors of Sun are true, then you have to consider what to do with mySQL. My suggestion is to put it on top of SE and continue to support it for the really low end solutions with a migration path to IDS. But hey! I'm just an alter ego of a pissed of techie, so what do I know? ;-) -G _________________________________________________________________ Quick access to your favorite MSN content and Windows Live with Internet Explorer 8. http://ie8.msn.com/microsoft/internet-explorer-8/en-us/ie8.aspx?ocid=B037MSN55C0701A