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Re: Oracle vs DB2

From: Dennis Taylor <ismgr_at_pctc.com>
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 12:35:18 -0700
Message-ID: <F001.002F11D2.20010424122745@fatcity.com>

I received a version of this from the salescritter as well, and went through it with a fine-toothed comb. Some of the statements are simply false. Some are value judgements expressed as imperative statements, with no backup. Some may be true, but again, I'd like to see support for the statement.

At 10:46 AM 4/24/01 -0800, you wrote:
>FYI, the Oracle Marketing spiel...
>
>Price Does Not Equal Cost
>Databases store, protect, manage and provide access to a company's most
important business asset * information. There is no other product that a company will buy that has a greater effect on information systems. Selecting the wrong database product can compromise business growth and profitability. It would make sense to select a database product based on price alone if database products were the predominant part of the overall information technology expenditures. But this is simply not the case. Software costs (including upgrades and technical support) typically represent less than 15% of an IT budget and are small compared to the overall costs of hardware, operations and maintenance, consulting and training.
>
> IBM DB2's Hidden Costs
>IBM never talks about the hidden costs of running an application on DB2:
>DB2 needs a more expensive hardware infrastructure to deliver the same
level of service as Oracle. Oracle database is faster and more efficient than IBM DB2 on the same hardware configuration. Oracle database supports more users and handles a greater workload with a smaller and less expensive hardware configuration. The real proof is IBM using Oracle database, not DB2, to benchmark its Unix hardware platforms.
>Oracle offers a more complete solution for high availability than IBM. DB2
lacks high availability features and makes IBM rely on hardware to deliver high availability. As a result, DB2 requires a more expensive hardware configuration to deliver the same level of availability as Oracle. According to an IBM-sponsored study by the Standish Group, even modest increases in availability can amount to millions of dollars saved each year. You can depend on Oracle to keep your business running and keep your IT budget under control.
>Oracle has far superior security features compared to DB2. Oracle has 13
security certifications from independent and internationally recognized organizations, IBM has none. Delivering a 100% secure solution with DB2 means additional software and consulting costs. IT Managers should be aware that security breaches amount to billions of dollars in losses every year for businesses around the world.
>DB2 lacks the advanced and automated system resource management
capabilities than Oracle can deliver. Using DB2 means higher on-going maintenance costs.
>Choosing DB2 as a strategic database provider locks IT organizations into
IBM's world:
>DB2's lack of third-party applications means more expensive development
costs or inability to handle critical business processes. More than 17,000 applications from independent software vendors run on Oracle providing a pool of solutions unequaled by IBM.
>DB2 has limited functionality and is not optimized on non-IBM platforms
such as HP or Sun which are IBM' s fierce competitors in the hardware market. As a result, DB2 locks you into IBM hardware at higher cost and risk of low performance.
>DB2 is not DB2 is not DB2. DB2's code base is different on Unix and NT
than on AS/400 and the mainframe. This platform incompatibility leads to higher costs. While IBM claims 90% compatibility, the last 10% can mean a lot of wasted time for developers. Most applications are prototyped on NT first, then extended to the platform they will be deployed on. With IBM, developers know they will have to rewrite part of their code.
>There are more trained DBAs for Oracle than for DB2, making it easier to
deploy and manage application running on Oracle database. Oracle has nurtured a 1.4 million strong developer community which is now is a deep pool of talent that IBM cannot offer. Gartner summarizes it all in a review of DB2: "While IBM's per-processor pricing model makes DB2 especially attractive to the midrange and high-end markets, users should carefully weigh their anticipated total cost of ownership factoring in the difficulty of finding experienced DB2 developers and administrators".
>IBM's solutions are far less integrated than Oracle's and require
additional time and resources before they can go live. Let's take security as an example. Oracle Advanced Security and Oracle database are fully integrated. These two products are developed by the same teams. To get access to security that are functionally comparable to Oracle, IBM's customers need to acquire IBM Secureway, which comes from a totally different product line.
>
> Quality Equals Economy
>Because a database is such a key technology, quality matters more than
just software price. Who wants to run a general ledger application on an infrastructure that cannot handle peak loads? Who wants to run a global e-commerce or customer support application on a system that must go offline every week for maintenance? Who wants to run an HR system on a database that compromises on data integrity?
>An application running on Oracle costs less to operate than an application
running on DB2 simply because Oracle delivers a higher quality of service than DB2. IBM touts its lower database price, but why risk your business on DB2, a product with many hidden costs?
>
>
> Technology Innovation Is Key
>By far, the largest hidden cost of running DB2 is IBM's low rate of
innovation. Innovation is key to a robust but flexible IT infrastructure. Information systems must evolve constantly as end-user demand changes. They need to evolve rapidly to respond to business changes such as company acquisitions or unexpected competitive pressure. An IT infrastructure based on software products that lack innovation becomes legacy very rapidly. And legacy is expensive to maintain or replace.
>Oracle has been the database technology innovator for 20 years. In 1979,
Oracle delivered the first commercial relational database. In 2001, Oracle delivers the first database caching technology that improves web performance and allows IT organizations to reduce hardware costs. Oracle has not stopped innovating over the past 20 years.
>
>Buying DB2 means buying into an infrastructure that is less advanced than
your competitors' and that quickly will become legacy in no time. In the long run, buying DB2 equals additional and unnecessary costs as systems need to be upgraded or replaced to reap of the business benefits of more innovative technology.
>
>
> Customers Are The Real Proof
>Customer acceptance is the real proof, and customers are choosing Oracle:
>Oracle has been growing its software business at an average rate of 20%
per year while IBM's software business has been flat or declining for nearly six years in a row. Customers vote with their pocketbooks and, clearly, they are voting for Oracle, not IBM.
>Oracle has a higher customer retention rate than IBM (AMR Research,
November 2000)
>11% of IBM DB2 customers plan on switching to a different database over
the next 2 years. (AMR Research, November 2000)
>Oracle is the most commonly used database across all industries, with
usage rates that are, on average, 3 to 4 times higher than IBM DB2 (AMR Research, November 2000)
>Oracle database is the most commonly used database for developers: a
recent EvansData survey shows that 55% of developers use Oracle, only 25% use IBM DB2.
>
>The Oracle leadership fact page is on www.oracle.com
>
> Oracle Worldwide Marketing
>
>
>>>> ismgr_at_pctc.com 04/24/01 11:57AM >>>
>Disclaimer: I am *not* trying to start a religious war, and I am *not*
>trying to advocate DB2. I am simply offended. Thus this post.
>
>As some may remember, I'm doing an evaluation of Oracle vs DB2 vs SQLServer
>to determine our future direction. Here's a datum that makes a significant
>difference to us, dollar-wise.
>
>With Oracle, in order to make a database accessible to the internet through
>a web page, you have to buy an unlimited-user enterprise license. We had a
>senior sales person in our office yesterday, and we asked this question a
>number of different ways. He bobbed and he weaved, but he did not deny it.
>And the quote he supplied afterwards does not address the issue at all.
>
>Cost of unlimited-user Enterprise version for our installation (your
>mileage may vary) = Approx $160,000 Cdn.
>
>IBM, for the same purpose, will sell you DB2 UDB Workgroup edition (1
>user), and something called WE Internet Access, for a total price of $6000
>Cdn. I have a written quote from an IBM salescritter to this effect.
>
>$6000. $160,000. $6000. $160,000. Hm. Let me think.....
>
>I respectfully submit that Oracle's pricing structure is out of line with
>market realities, and may have to undergo significant revision.
>
>
>
>Dennis Taylor
>--------------------------------
>Don't be fooled by old cliches - He who laughs last may have
>just figured out the joke.
>
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>--
>Author: Dennis Taylor
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>

Dennis Taylor



Beware of false economies.
-- 
Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com
-- 
Author: Dennis Taylor
  INET: ismgr_at_pctc.com

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Received on Tue Apr 24 2001 - 14:35:18 CDT

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