PRESS: Informix in the News

List of Informix related articles. Format: PUBLICATION "Article Name" Summary of Article [Date, Location in Publication, Author] Informix in the News --------------------------------- (01/22/99) PCWEEK "Toss That Spreadsheet" Informix plans to announce Visionary 1.0, which doubles as a wizard-driven development environment that enables non-programmers to assemble applications without writing code. Visionary follows a trend toward enterprise information portals, a single launch point into enterprise data stores. According to industry analysts, Visionary may find a space in business intelligence landscapes. (Mark Hammond, 1/18/99) PCWEEK "Informix to Offer Two Versions of Dynamic Server Database" Informix rolled out their data server road map and said they will begin shipping two distinctive versions of its Dynamic Server database later this year. One is geared for data warehousing and the other for online transaction processing. The data warehouse version will include high-end features and is slated to ship the second half of the year. The e-commerce version is scheduled for the third quarter and is based on Informix's object-relational technology. It will also have a Java Virtual Machine and support Microsoft's COM and ActiveX. Database rivals are skeptical but some analysts and users say Informix's approach appears to be sound. (Mark Hammond, 1/21/99) Additional Coverage: INTERNETWEEK "Informix Lays out Strategy to Stay Competitive" (Ellis Booker, 1/25/99) COMPUTERWORLD "Informix to Outline Database Game Plan" (Marc Ferranti, 1/18/99) INTERNETWEEK "Informix to Unwrap Database Packages" (Rick Whiting, 1/19/99) COMPUTER RESELLER NEWS "Informix Reconfigures Database Lines" (Shawn Willett, 1/19/99) COMPUTER RESELLER NEWS "Informix Shares Two-Year Road Map" (Shawn Willett) C/NET "Informix Mixes, Matches Databases" (Mike Ricciuti, 1/19/99) SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE "Informix Aims For Fast Track" (1/19/99) BLOOMBERG "Informix Unveils Plans for Three New Data Software Products" (Mylene Mangalindan, 1/18/99) DOW JONES NEWS " Informix Lays Out Two-Year Database Software Road Map" (Maria V. Georgianis, 1/18/99) INTER@CTIVE WEEK "Informix Lays Out Two-Year Vision" This is not a turnaround said CEO Bob Finocchio about its two-year product road map. Finocchio said that today the company is financially sound and it has reported steady revenue growth for the past year. It is also technologically sound and working on a new generation of database servers he believes will turn Informix into a next-generation provider of "data-based powered solutions." (Connie Guglielmo, 1/19/99) PCWEEK "Being a Visionary is Not Always Enough" Novell may have made a mistake selling its Tuxedo transaction processing software to BEA systems in February 1996. Tuxedo became the most recognized name in the business and BEA Systems emerged as the major player in large-scale transaction server and application server markets. Novell then re-entered the database market with SQL Integrator, a NetWare-based application that links disparate SQL sources, which was developed by B2 Systems. Another technology Novell had was a visual application development tool called Visual AppBuilder, which has parallels to Informix's Visionary. However, Informix does not call it an application development tool. Instead they call it a visualization tool that will replace traditional applications. Visionary is a unique tool and its capabilities exceed those of Visual AppBuilder and it is targeted at multiple platforms. Visionary is extremely slick and useful and it could provide a big boost to Informix's back-end strategy. However, good technology alone has rarely spurred widespread corporate adoption. (John Taschek, 1/25/99) INFOWORLD ELECTRIC "Informix Details Product Road Map, New Data Engines" Informix unveiled a two-year product road map, which includes the rollout of several new database engines designed to link historical information to online transaction processing and Internet applications. More immediately Informix is announcing the availability of Informix Visionary, a graphical data analysis and exploration tool for its Dynamic Server product. Informix is positioning Visionary as the "eye" on all corporate data. (Marc Ferranti, 1/19/99) COMPUTERWORLD "Informix to Sell Its Database Via Linux Players" Informix announced its partnership with Red Hat Software and SuSE Inc. to distribute the Linux edition of its Informix Dynamic Server. Informix will offer various levels of support for e-mail and Web-based forums as well as extensive technical support at what the company calls "standard support pricing." According to IDC analyst Carl Olofson, "Informix is attempting to position itself to be more attractive to the developer community so that it can be seen as the Linux database platform." (Stewart Deck, 1/19/99) Additional Coverage: COMPUTERWORLD "Informix Gives Dynamic Server Full Linux Support" (Stewart Deck, 1/18/99) NEWSBYTES NEWS NETWORK "Informix Databases On Linux Declared A Success" (Craig Menefee, 1/20/99) LINUX TODAY "Santa Exhausted After Delivering Informix Products on Linux, Easter Bunny Worried" (1/21/99) COMPUTER RESELLER NEWS "Vendors Are Taking 'Free' Out Of Freeware" Major database vendors are planning to elevate Linux versions of their products to full-fledged enterprise databases, but under pressure they are abandoning "freeware" aspects of their product. IBM has been reconsidering that move after overwhelming interest from the corporate market, but it will continue to offer a free version to students through its DB2 Scholars program. Sybase is also thinking of its options and it is pondering whether to charge for a supported version of Adaptive Server. Oracle has enterprise plans for its Linux database. The company plans to introduce an enterprise version for Oracle8 for Linux. Informix seems to be sticking to more of a semi-freeware model, although the company has said the target for the Linux database has changed from freeware application developers to mainstream corporate accounts. Although it charges workgroup pricing for Informix Dynamic Server for Linux, it offers free e-mail support and ships with the free Apache server. (Shawn Willett, 1/18/99) FRESHMEAT.NET "News From Informix" Informix announced its success of its holiday Linux promotion and ongoing Linux program. The distribution of Linux-based Informix products had exceeded expectations with more than175,000 copies distributed over the last six months. (1/19/99) LINUX JOURNAL "LJ Interviews Informix's Janet Smith" Interview with Janet Smith regarding Informix's move to Linux. Interview was done in October and has only now been posted on Linux Journal web site. (2/99)