Re: OT: Interesting DB article

"Billy Verreynne" <vslabs_at_onwe.co.za> wrote in message news:1a75df45.0310011142.4541e3ae_at_posting.google.com...
>
> Some months ago at a big business conference, one of the speakers (CEO
> of a very large corporate) said something to the effect that the core
> of his business (and he was in banking) is IT/IS.

Oh, they keep saying that sort of thing. Nothing new. Then they get cold feet and go into paroxisms of cost cutting that basically negate ANY chance of any serious and concerted and intelligent evolution.

One of the reasons this is still such a great industry to be in: there are so many useless damagers out there speaking about IT and how to use it "effectively" that the whole cycle will never end. The first one that will LISTEN to IT instead of talking about how to "use" it will be a winner!

> corporate cannot survive without IT. And that makes IT as much part of
> his core business as the traditional core banking.
>
> I found his viewpoint refreshing and tend to agree with it.

Well, it's true for any business that relies on processing enormous amounts of data for its day to day operation. Financial market is obvious. Market research as well. Go into manufacturing or primary industry and there is little to be gained from commercial data processing. But a lot to be gained from scientific and pure research computing. Which you can do with any 5 year old system, apart from some very specialized areas.
Go into small to medium sized commercial outfits though and it's a totally different ballgame. Cost is the driver, above all else.

>
> Or you can choose the right toolbox to use. :-)
>
> Personally, I am a big Oracle supporter. I like the product. It can do
> freakily kewl things. However, professionally there is more than just
> technical kewl features and Oracle. SQL-Server is a better choice
> under certain conditions. Or Informix. Or runing Linux with mySQL or
> WinXP with Firebird.

Well, IMHO there is very little that SS or Informix offer that I couldn't achieve better with Oracle. If only I could get Oracle to come to the party on pricing. But to have them crop my margin to 20% sale and 10% maintenance on small scale systems and then have their sales reps walk into my accounts and offer those licences for free to grab the main system business is kinda not my idea of commercial sense.

And one of the reasons I couldn't be bothered even worrying about Oracle for small to medium sized servers: totally not worth the fight with their own sales reps! Guess what: this feeling is shared by just about ALL small SI or app sellers in Australia for the last 5 years. I wonder why...

> SO IMO it is not the toolmaker not making the right tools - it is the
> toolusers that let their personal preferences and likes get in the way
> of selecting the right toolbox for the job.

and yet, all O has to do to grab small tool users as well is provide them with a smaller tool. And NOT undersell their VARs. Probably a bit late to do it now, but worth a try. ;)

-- 
Cheers
Nuno Souto
wizofoz2k_at_yahoo.com.au.nospam