Re: Beware! the days of Oracle may be numbered

One thing I would like all the doubters of my comments to consider about themselves: How many "DBMS revolutions" have you, personally, been through?

I have seen three of them. What I am talking about is when one DBMS is the 'top dog' and another comes along and usurps it. I got started in the data management field when IMS was being dethroned by IDMS. And what I mean by 'dethroned' is this: New Sales. Not existing installations or number of DBAs employed. I mean the 'hot ticket'. The DBMS the want ads and the head hunters are mostly searching for people for.

I have been in this business long enough now to recognize the trend. And it has very little to do with which DBMS is 'better'. The old saying of "build a better mouse trap, and the world will beat a path to your doorstep" is a lie. If it were true, then VHS tape format wouldn't have beat out Beta-Max.

So, back to my question. And, specifically to you, John. How many DBMS 'revolutions' have you been through, or is Oracle the only 'hot ticket' DBMS you have had experience with? To be more specific, were you a DBA when any one of these DBMS's were the 'top dog' (as far as new sales): IMS, IDMS, or DB2

The only difference, for me, is that I can now spot the trend early enough to do something about it before the head-hunters get to a point where they wont return my calls (if I were to call one). In other words; currently, Oracle is still the 'hot ticket' - but it won't be for long. And I have spotted all the symptoms of the impending change in who will be the 'top dog' early enough to do something about it, for myself.

I have abandoned learning anything new about Oracle, put all my Oracle books on the shelf with my DB2 books, and my IDMS books. And I have started buying books on MS SQL server 7 and reading them.

This time I am determined to be one of the people who have the 'hot ticket' skills, before the shift actually happens. Because, as my experience has shown, after it actually happens is too late to get in on the 'bidding war' for the new talent.

"John P. Higgins" wrote:
>
> What a bizarre comment!
>
> Oracle's total revenues rose 19% over last year. The database revenues rose 10%.
>
> The only drop was on Wall Street because the 'analysts' had guessed an even higher
> gain.
>
Received on Sat Mar 13 1999 - 13:13:40 CST