Re: informix market share

From: M Segel <MSegelNo_at_SPAM.Segel.com>
Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 10:25:21 -0600
Message-Id: <438b2017$0$3556$afc38c87@>

xiaoxin wrote:

>>From end user's (my company) point of view, the biggest issue of

> informix I can see is the cost (normally people complain this about
> oracle). I just check it from IBM and Oracle. The list price of IDS is
> about 20% more than oracle EE. No one is more expensive than oracle,
> when it comes to database. I'm sure IBM will support its current
> customers, but it appears that they don't want any new deals.
>

Uhm No.

THe price is relative. First to the size of the purchase, and how strategic of a customer you are. With all vendors, its how bad they want your business, how large a deal is on the table, and how good of a negotiator you are. That said, your milage may vary.

With respect to how IBM sales have treated Informix, there's a lot I could say, but then again, I did sign a paper that prohibits me from speaking my mind. At least for now. (And in public forums. ;-)

>>> When did you last choose your car by the battery?
>>>Because when your phone needs a recharge twice a day you swear at the
>>> phone company.

> You need much more service on database than battery. We can bundle
> database service to the vendor. However, the problems are: first, it
> will cost us a fortune; second, when there is a performance issue, the
> vendor could let us to buy a bigger machine when all they to do is
> changing one line of code.
>

DA keeps pushing the application centric philosophy.

Customer purchases are based on need and an understanding of the overall costs associated with a decision. Many sales reps, internal proponents and dim witted CIOs screw this process up.

Not all databases are created equal, even though they do support some industry standards. ;-)

IBM's strategy is to focus on the core product and let ISVs focus on the apps. This has been their strategy for a long time. I think it goes back to their Anti-trust days....

>>What is happening is that Informix skilled people are rapidly shrinking,
>>just like Sybase and other fading products.

> In this case, database is more like a car rather than a battery.
> Certainly, we can hire a Informix expertise. It will cost a lot when
> the skilled people are shrinking. I forget to mention that the town I
> live is in the middle of desert, with more than 1500 km away from any
> major cities. You probably won't buy a car here without a local
> mechanic who can do its maintenance. Remote DBA isn't possible because
> of regulation. If my company tries to save such money, they will get a
> hard lesson.
>

Have you thought about remote access and monitoring? Of course you're going to have to pay based on the global rates. (Although a deal could be worked out depending on the level of service...)

> Less popularity also means less real gurus, more chance to be the first
> person who hit the bugs.
>
> Cheers,
> Xiaoxin

Good gurus never die. They just fade away learning the zen art of fly fishing.

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Received on Mon Nov 28 2005 - 10:25:21 CST