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RE: rdbms pricing

From: Mark Leith <mark_at_cool-tools.co.uk>
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 02:47:17 -0800
Message-ID: <F001.002CEB5A.20010316022042@fatcity.com>

Dennis,

Good write up, though I have a question:

Your first scenario states a single server with 50 users - License 38,675 - Support 8,508.50 - for Oracle. Now as you go down the line and get below this 50 user license the price drops and stays at 31,850 (seems fair so far) with a SUPPORT cost of 22,295!!!!!! Is this correct?? You do realise that this is essentially a maintenance cost of 70% of the license cost? Now, I know that Oracle are losing license revenue at the moment - but if this IS the case don't you think are they are trying to stuff you up the proverbial with support? :)

No software company could EVER justify such a high maintenance cost! We charge maint of 20% and some people question that..

I feel that there has to be some catch along with DB2's support offering also as they are charging a 1%+/- maintenance cost - now either their RDBMS is EXTREMELY stable, and they don't anticipate you calling in for support (Not likely), or they have too much money to be greedy - ahhhemmm -!.

Thanks for the write up though Dennis, this is pretty topical for us at the moment.

Cheers

Mark

-----Original Message-----
Taylor
Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2001 05:16
To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L

Since the list doesn't allow attachments, I'm just merging in all this as text. It may be messy. sorry.

Oh, and these are Canadian prices. U.S. prices will be 50% - 67% of the stated values.

My original RFP:



I am looking for quotes on RDBMS products for the following scenarios:

Server Platform:
2x750 MHz Intel, running Linux or NT

DBMS:
Enterprise Edition or equivalent.

Scenario 1:
1 server, 1 location, 50 users.

Scenario 2:
1 server, 1 location, 400 users.

Scenario 3:
5 servers, different locations, with the following user counts: 200 users
100 users
40 users
40 users
20 users

Scenario 4:
1 server, serving up data for an internet-based web server.

I would also like information on:
· Annual maintenance costs
· Version upgrade costs and patch availabilities.
· Cost of a separate server which will serve up data for an
internet-accessible web server. Price for Enterprise and Non-enterprise versions if applicable.
· Policies concerning maintaining backup systems, i.e. do we need a
separate license for a separate system that is intended only as a failover?
· Price of any recommended or required companion software that may not be
bundled with the RDBMS.


Notes on the results that I got:

· All quotes are for "Enterprise Edition" versions of the RDBMS's.
"Workgroup" versions are available from all companies, and are considerably less expensive. They typically are limited in the ability to replicate data between servers. In the case of SQLServer, for instance, the 'Standard" edition of SQLServer cannot do clustering and automatic failover. In the case of Oracle, the "Workgroup" edition cannot do automatic replication of data to other databases. There are also system and programming features missing, such as partitioning and function-based indexes in Oracle.
· The Enterprise editions of DB2 and SQLServer come in unlimited-user
versions only. The Oracle Enterprise edition requires a minimum 50-user purchase at our level, and "tops out" at about 300 users, after which it make more sense to buy the unlimited-user version.
· All vendors require us to pay for a backup system. Only DB2 has a
somewhat cheaper price for the backup RDBMS license.
· DB2 and SQLServer charge per-cpu for the Enterprise editions. Oracle
charges per-cpu multiplied by clock speed. This means that if we later upgrade to a newer server, we have to pay Oracle more money, even if the software doesn't change.
· All vendors promise additional price breaks and other incentives, given
further "negotiations". It's very much a moving target.
· Oracle's support, although the most expensive, is also the most
comprehensive. The figures quoted for Oracle support are annual amounts. No, I'm not kidding.
· The IBM annual support cost is ludicrously low, but I was unable to get
anyone to deviate from it. I suspect a rat.
· It's worth noting that, if we went with IBM, we would be able to purchase
the hardware and o/s from them as well, resulting in an "end-to-end" support contract.


Scenario                Oracle  Support Upgrades                SQLServer       
Support Upgrades                DB2     Support
Upgrades
1 server, 50 users              38,675  8,508.50        Included                50,045 
 $245 per call   50-75%
of new price            54,864  672     $267.00/yr
1 server, 400 users             168,750 37,125  Included                50,045  $245 
per call   50-75%
of new price            54,864  672     $267.00/yr
5 servers, user counts:
200             127,400 28,028  Included                50,045  $245 per call   50-75% 
of new price
54,864  672     $267.00/yr
100             63,700  14,014  Included                50,045  $245 per call   50-75% 
of new price
54,864  672     $267.00/yr
40              31,850  22,295  Included                50,045  $245 per call   50-75% 
of new price
54,864  672     $267.00/yr
40              31,850  22,295  Included                50,045  $245 per call   50-75% 
of new price
54,864  672     $267.00/yr
20              31,850  22,295  Included                50,045  $245 per call   50-75% 
of new price
54,864  672     $267.00/yr

1 server, internet accessible           168,750 37,125  Included                50,045 
 $245 per
call    50-75% of new price             54,864  672     $267.00/yr

================================================

Enjoy.

Dennis Taylor



GINSBERG'S THEOREMS:
        1 - You can't win
        2 - You can't break even
        3 - you can't even quit the game!

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Author: Mark Leith
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Received on Fri Mar 16 2001 - 04:47:17 CST

Original text of this message

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