Re: DB2 entering Wall Street. Will Oracle be left behind??

On Wed, 13 Nov 2002 08:47:15 -0500, "Ronnie Yours" <ronnie_yours_at_yahoo.com> wrote:

>Hi,
>
>I read an article that JP Morgan is entering into an agreement with IBM to
>outsource its tech operations.
>
>http://biz.yahoo.com/djus/021113/0018000026_2.html
>
>This means that IBM will start using DB2 as soon as it gets a chance as
>their database of choice instead of Sybase which JPM currently uses.
>
>Also its just a matter of time when others on wall street will follow suit.
>Even if they dont outsource their tech to IBM they might start using DB2 as
>their database. Why do I say this. Because thats what history has told us.
>The whole financial induatry uses sybase even though there are and always
>were other choices available. I think they just maintain a standard across
>board. The move from sybase to some other database needed a big move from
>somebody who is large enough to make a significant impression on the whole
>industry and JPM is large enough.
>
>This might take some time but eventually it will happen.
>
>Does this mean that its time to start learning DB2.
>
>Ronnie
>
>

The sky is falling! Run away, run away!

I am intimately familiar with this type of outsourcing deal. It does NOT mean that JPM's shop will become 'Blue'. While I'm sure IBM would love for that to happen, in reality they will manage whatever the customer wants. I can assure you that if JPM wants to run their business on non-blue hardware and non-blue databases, IBM will be perfectly happy to be paid to manage those products.

Convincing a business to change their DB platform without a VERY compelling reason is a VERY tough job. Code changes every day, but data structures live forever.

And even if your scenario came true (not likely in MY lifetime), so what? It's a DBMS, not a religion. Just like IBM will be happy to manage an Oracle shop (if that's what the paying customer wants) so I'll be happy to learn DB2, if that's what the job requires.

--
Ed Stevens
(Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of my employer.)