Article Summaries - Re: PRESS: Informix in the News

Ask and ye shall receive. I hope this helps! Christine M. Shannon International User Group Liaison Informix Software, Inc. ________________________________________________ At 12:47 AM 9/5/96 -0500, you wrote: >How about including at least a summary of the news stories instead >of just the reference? Or maybe the whole news story. ________________________________________________ List of Informix related articles. Format: PUBLICATION "Article Name" Summary of Article [Date, Location in Publication, Author] Informix in the News --------------------------------- (9/3/96) COMPUTER RESELLER NEWS "DataBlades cut their own path" In conjunction with the roll-out of its Universal Server, Informix plans a major push to get its VARs developing, using and selling DataBlades. VARs already developing with DataBlades say the technology can be an entry into new accounts and an introduction to a new model for buying, developing and reselling applications. It can also be an advantage over Oracle and Sybase, which have not yet developed programs for extensions. "This is not fairy dust. A lot of major companies are looking at applications that can use these complex or business-defined data types," said Dave Cope, general manager of Informix's DataBlade business unit. Informix plans a major marketing effort to show why VARs may want to incorporate DataBlades into their solutions. ECOlogic Corp. and Sage Solutions, Inc. are two VARs that are currently using the technology to build new applications. (9/2/96, pg. 63, Shawn Willett) COMPUTER RESELLER NEWS "Building bridges to the database" VARs are eager to make use of products that bridge relational databases and the Web to provide Internet-based solutions. This article explains the Web-integration strategies of the leading RDBMS vendors. Informix provides a free Web Interface Kit that lets VARs build simple Web-based connectivity using CGI. In addition, Informix provides a Web Connectivity Framework and its Web DataBlade that enable VARs to build more sophisticated Web-database applications. Oracle has a family of Web-database integration products, based on its WebServer 3.0 product. Sybase uses web.sql middleware, and IBM provides Net.Data middleware. Computer Associates International, Inc. and Microsoft Corp. have enhanced their database servers for Web access. (9/2/96, pg. 73, Daniel Lyons) PC WEEK ON-LINE "Informix steps up integration effort with SAP's R/3" Informix has formed a business unit to improve the integration of SAP AG's R/3 application suite with Informix's OnLine Dynamic Server (ODS). The new unit will also provide technical support to the companies' joint customers. "It's a good move by Informix to create this unit," said Frank Gillett, an analyst at The Hurwitz Group. "They've recognized the importance of this market." In a related announcement, Informix said that by year's end its ODS/SAP R/3 solution will run on clients using Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. (8/26/96, on-line, Juan Carlos Perez) COMMUNICATIONS WEEK "A showcase for SAP apps" Last week at the SAPphire conference in Philadelphia, several vendors made announcements in support of SAP R/3 Version 3.1 software. Informix will deliver its OnLine Dynamic Server with SAP R/3 on Windows in the fourth quarter of this year. Microsoft will integrate its Merchant System with SAP's framework to secure Internet retail. Oracle introduced Oracle Warehouse Toolkit for R/3, enabling Developer/2000 users to extract SAP R/3 data from an Oracle7 data warehouse. (9/2/96, pg. 11, Martin Marshall) DATA MANAGEMENT REVIEW "Informix NewEra" Kay Paine, president of Kay Paine Associates, a software consulting firm, reviewed INFORMIX-NewEra 1.0 on Windows 3.1, using INFORMIX-SE as the database engine. Object-oriented re-usable class libraries, a powerful language, graphics and simplified DBMS views are the products' biggest strengths, along with its openness. The biggest weakness with this version is that it does not include application partitioning, which comes with Version 2.0. (7-8/96, pg. 121, Kay Paine) DATA MANAGEMENT REVIEW "Inside Informix" This article explains why the Informix-Illustra merger will have a major impact on the software industry. Recently, two trends have converged in the data management industry: the widespread implementation of higher-performance computing systems and the rich content, data management demands of the Web. The INFORMIX-Universal Server combines Illustra's extensibility and Informix's robust Dynamic Scalable Architecture; thus, the best of each company's code is being integrated into one server. The first release of the Universal Server is expected to have the following scalability and extensibility features: new data types, new functions, a range of access methods and user-tracking capabilities. (7-8/96, pg. 91, J.D. Hicks) DATA COMMUNICATIONS INTERNATIONAL "Internetworking" In this connectivity product round-up, INFORMIX-Enterprise Gateway and INFORMIX-Enterprise Gateway with DRDA are abstracted. The Enterprise Gateway lets tools and applications access data located anywhere in the enterprise. It incorporates the Enterprise Access SQL (EDA/SQL) suite of products, which provides both SQL and remote procedure call access to over 60 relational and non-relational data sources on 35 different hardware platforms and operating systems. Enterprise Gateway with DRDA let users and developers transparently access information on IBM DB2, DB2/VM and DB2/400 databases. Enterprise Gateway with DRDA is priced at $15,000, and Enterprise Gateway, for UNIX and Windows NT, is priced at $20,000. (8/21/96, pg. 129, staff writer) SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE "Informix exec to quit" Howard Graham, Informix's chief financial officer, plans to leave the company by the end of the year. Earlier this year, Informix saw its revenue growth slow as its customers put off purchases of its products. The company plans to release a new database product by year-end. (8/27/96, pg. C4, Bloomberg Business News)