Re: Advise needed: Can I use/learn Oracle quickly?

Hans Forbrich <hforbric_at_yahoo.net> wrote in message news:<AqSYb.25773$n17.9601_at_clgrps13>...
> Ed prochak wrote:
> > Daniel Morgan <damorgan_at_x.washington.edu> wrote in message news:<1076961822.545851_at_yasure>...
> >
> >>Ed prochak wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>>Thankfully I learned ORACLE as part of researching Databases for a
> >>>client company to use. really looking into the underlying technology
> >>>and the feature sets at that time made ORACLE the clear winner for
> >>>their needs. But I also learned enough that ORACLE is not best for ALL
> >>>needs, especially given the costs.
> >>>
> >>>Good luck Erwin!
> >>> Ed
> >>
> >>Apparently it has been a long time since you've checked the price of
> >>Oracle. One can now purchase a license for a lot less than $1000 USD.
> >
> >
> > Maybe an individual developer can get that price (for non-commercial
> > use), or a company embedding ORACLE in thousands of devices MIGHT be
> > able to negotiate prices like that. (that's what was done for that
> > client I mentioned. They bought bulk executable lincenses for use in
> > embedded systems. But that was about 10years ago.)
> >
> > Try getting that price for a small company web server. I'm not
> > currently involved directly in these contracts, but our company has
> > clients paying in the tens of thousands of dollars for their licenses.
> > AND NO they are not running huge machines. In one case, I believe the
> > ORACLE license is costing MORE than the server it runs on.
> >
> > But you missed my point. For a given application, there may be a less
> > expensive alternative that provides all the needed functionality at a
> > lower cost. With open source software now, the out-of-pocket cost may
> > be ZERO. (Support costs are a separate issue). ORACLE is a great
> > DATABASE. But it's only one of many. Pick the tool that is right for
> > the job is all I'm saying.
> >
> > Have a great day.
> > Ed
>
> While I agree with the sentiment, I've seen one too many organzations
> that don't look at the TOTAL cost.
>
> Too often they've ended up paying a small amount for the database and a
> huge amount for the application development just to replicate the
> capabilities of mod_plsql, DBMS_JOBS, intermedia, etc. The final bill,
> when viewed over 3 years frequently amounts to more than would have been
> paid for Oracle and a knowledgable professional.
>
> Inevitably this can be attributed to unrealistic expectations as well as
> accounting practises that keep capital vs operational expense totally
> separated and therefore ignore the true cost of a project.
>
> So yes: use the right tool for the job. But make sure you understand
> the job well.
>
> /Hans

Good point.

 And in the case of my original ORACLE Client, they did see the benefit to getting the bigger/better tool, namely ORACLE. They had learned from experience (using a single user DB engine wrapped in lots of multiuser locking logic) that there is a price to pay for features, either paid up front in the tool cost or down stream in development costs developing/working around the lack of functionality. Infact the one other DB that was being pushed by another division was a smaller, single user stype DB. It worked wonderfully in their project, but was way underpowered for the project I worked on.

I hope some managers, VP's and CEO's are reading this thread! Received on Fri Feb 20 2004 - 11:42:27 CST