Oracle FAQ Your Portal to the Oracle Knowledge Grid
HOME | ASK QUESTION | ADD INFO | SEARCH | E-MAIL US
 

Home -> Community -> Usenet -> c.d.o.server -> Re: informix market share

Re: informix market share

From: rkusenet <rkusenet_at_yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 27 Nov 2005 20:25:25 -0500
Message-ID: <90tif.1379$wf2.116717@news20.bellglobal.com>


"Bob Jones" <email_at_me.not> wrote in message news:8Bsif.27563$tV6.2276_at_newssvr27.news.prodigy.net...
>
> "rkusenet" <rkusenet_at_yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:ECpif.958$Et5.38022_at_news20.bellglobal.com...
>> "Bob Jones" <email_at_me.not> wrote
>>
>>> If not to improve the market share of its databases, what do you think the ultimate goal of
>>> these 2 actions are? In fact, I could care less about what IBM's real motive was, the only
>>> thing matters is the bottom line outcome.
>>
>> ** The ultimate goal is to get Informix customer as DB2.
>>
>
> Doesn't that translate to improving market share?
>
>> ** The ultimate goal is to make Db2 the only competitor to Oracle.
> I am afraid that will never happen, especially without increasing the market share.

OK now I understood what you originally meant. I thought u said that IBM informix to increase the market share of Informix.
You are right, they want to increase the market share of DB2 by getting informix customers.
>> Well it could not be for two reasons:-
>>
>> (a) IBM may give them excellent 'moving' allowance. After
>> all it is money moving from one pocket to other.
>
> What makes you think other vendors cannot? After all it's money moving from IBM's pocket to
> theirs.

Well for other vendors it will be a loss to get informix customer for a bargain price. For IBM this question is moot. So IBM is in a better position to sustain that process. For e.g. there is a Gold Bundle schema of licensing. Basically it means that any existing customer can buy Informix license with an assurance that it can be switched to DB2 at any time without paying anything at the time of switch. Not only that, the customer can run both for a limited period during the transition. I doubt whether other vendors can match that.

> Maybe he thought those products were worth the prices, and Informix evidently was not.

Or may be LE goofed up in 2001. may be he learnt from that and that's why bought InnoDb recently.

> For $1 billion plus the cost of maintaining and supporting another product that they already
> have? I suspect those 2000 engineers don't come cheap.

Within a year, those Informix engineers were working on both Db2 and Informix. I have friends working in menlo park who told me this. Another friend of mine lost his chance to work for IBM. Apparently he was almost selected in early 2001 when suddenly IBM told him that they have put a freeze on all recruitments. Much later he came to know that IBM decided to halt hiring database engineers bcos they were getting ifmx engineers.

> I am not sure what you meant by "real customers". Those who use packaged software are not "real
> customers"?

Sorry real customers I mean those who bought Informix bcos they wanted it. When you buy package solution, u have to go for the database whether you are a shop or not. Merril Lynch in Jacksonville, FL was using Informix happily for one of their products until they bought a package to integrate with their system, which runs on Oracle only. Pretty soon they junked informix once they questioned the wisdom of maintaining two different databases. How happy were they with O as compared to Informix, I will let it pass here :-)

> How many of those customers have IBM converted to DB2 after 5 years? Has the return justified
> the cost? Looking back from today, it does not appear so.

IBM's $1b is quite well spent if you take into account all this. Good database engineers, proven technology of Informix which can be fast-tracked into Db2 without reinventing the wheel. Just wait until Viper is out. Received on Sun Nov 27 2005 - 19:25:25 CST

Original text of this message

HOME | ASK QUESTION | ADD INFO | SEARCH | E-MAIL US