Re: tough choices

From: Daniel Morgan <damorgan_at_x.washington.edu>
Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2004 23:24:27 -0700
Message-ID: <1087799092.61805@yasure>

Mark A wrote:

>>Lets assume, as that is the subject of this thread, that they need
>>high security, range partitioning, high availability, and failover.
>>All things one would get in Oracle's EE? Lets further assume they need
>>an equivalent support agreement. Lets put both solutions on identical
>>hardware ... say Intel P4s with 4CPU and 8GB RAM with a NetApp 910
>>filer head and Linux EL AS 3 Update 2. And lets assume that the
>>application requires full text searches of documents such as PDFs. In
>>short ... the application I am pricing right now for a division of
>>a very large aerospace company. Can I do better with DB2?
>>
>>If you think I can ... feel free to communicate that fact to a sales
>>rep. Because that is not consistent with the quotes I've received.
>>
>>-- 
>>Daniel Morgan

>
>
> Since I am not an IBM marketing person, I cannot speak definitively on the
> configuration pricing.
>
> However, for range partitioning (UNION ALL VIEWS) neither DB2 ESE nor Data
> Partitioning Feature is needed. DB2 Workgroup Server Edition (which includes
> 5 connections) or possibly the WSE Unlimited Edition (which charges for per
> processor instead of number of connections) will work very well with
> intra-partition parallelism using 4 CPU's on such a configuration.
>
> The WSE can be deployed in Linux, UNIX, and Windows environments on systems
> with up to 4 CPU's.
>
> Again, I am not an IBM employee, but a search of the IBM site reveals that
> DB2 UDB WORKGROUP SERVER EDITION SERVER LIC+SW MAINT 12 MO (D5B7FLL) for 5
> users is $1,211.00 plus $311.00 per additional user.
>
> Most middleware and web applications can be used in such a way that there a
> very large number of simultaneous users, but only a limited number of DB2
> connections being used at a given time.
>
> However, if an unlimited number of DB2 connections is necessary, an
> unlimited user license (Unlimited Edition) is available and the price is
> based on number of CPU's. I don't have the price of that.
>
> If any of the following complimentary products are needed I believe there
> may be an extra charge.
>
> Net Search Extender
> DB2 Spatial Extender
> Audio, Image, and Video Extenders
> WebSphere MQ

Exactly my point. Pricing must be based upon equivalent capabilities. Not some simplistic jingoism such as vendor A's EE edition vs. vendor B's EE edition.

The only thing that matters is when specific specifications are put on the table and two or more vendors are asked to submit written bids for the business. And that is where mythology must give way to the facts.

We are here for technology ... not one of us, as far as I know, gets even a dime in commission no matter who sells the most licenses next quarter. I know I certainly don't so I don't care. Lets not make statements about "more expensive" vs "less expensive" unless we are willing to put both the system specifications and the vendor's written quotes up for comparison. Both vendors are charging as much as they think they can given market conditions. And not one penny less. And if I were a stockholder (which I am not) I would expect nothing less.

-- 
Daniel Morgan
http://www.outreach.washington.edu/ext/certificates/oad/oad_crs.asp
http://www.outreach.washington.edu/ext/certificates/aoa/aoa_crs.asp
damorgan_at_x.washington.edu
(replace 'x' with a 'u' to reply)

Received on Mon Jun 21 2004 - 01:24:27 CDT