Re: DBMS Quality Survey

droberts_at_seas.gwu.edu (David Roberts) wrote:
>
> I have been working with a large government organization making a
> strategic decision about database systems, considering these products:
> Sybase SQL Server, Informix, Microsoft SQL Server, IBMs DB2/2, Oracle.
> If you have experience with any of these, please help by sending your
> answers to the questions which follow. We guarantee strict
> CONFIDENTIALITY and will not release your name to anyone for any purpose.
>
> Many thanks to those who participated in the initial survey. From your
> comments, we've composed our final survey arranged according to our key
> requirements. We will tally these results and distribute to interested
> parties, including everyone who responds to this survey.
>
> For each statement, please edit this note by answering 1 to 4, from
> Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree, and email direct to me at:
> droberts_at_seas.gwu.edu. There is space for comments at the end.
>
> Thanks for participating! I think you'll find the results interesting and
> informative.
>
> ==> First, please identify the product and the release:
> Oracle 7.1.4
>
>
> SCALE:
> 1 = Strongly Agree
> 2 = Agree
> 3 = Disagree
> 4 = Strongly Disagree
>
> (Leave undecided or inapplicable questions unanswered)
>
>
> SOFTWARE QUALITY
> 1. We have never had an unexplainable crash. ANSWER: 2
> 2. The product performs as advertised. ANSWER:2
> 3. Our developers have had to compensate for some features which are
> lacking.
> ANSWER:1
> 4. The optimizer does its job. It is flexible, yet smart enough to
> perform without
> mandatory manual intervention. ANSWER:2
> 5. The product is lacking in friendliness. ANSWER:2
> 6. It seems this vendor thinks of their customers as beta testers. ANSWER:1
> 7. Overall, we have found the quality of the product is high. ANSWER: 2
> 8. The product is not stable. ANSWER: 4
> 9. Some of the tools which come with this product are buggy. ANSWER: 1
> SECURITY
> 10. The product offers all the access control features we need. ANSWER:3
> ADMINISTRATION
> 11. We have been able to configure and control our system efficiently.
> ANSWER:2
> 12. Installation is difficult. ANSWER:3
> 13. Systems administration tools are cumbersome and difficult to use.
> ANSWER:2
> DISTRIBUTED DATA
> 14. Sharing data between network nodes is easily accomplished. ANSWER:3
> REPLICATION
> 15. The products replication features are very effective. ANSWER:4
> SUPPORT
> 16. Technical support seems to have knowledgeable staff available. ANSWER:3
> 17. Problems are resolved quickly by technical support. ANSWER:3
> 18. Documentation is technically correct and up-to-date. ANSWER:2
> 19. The vendor delivers product upgrades and bug fixes at reasonable
> intervals. ANSWER:2 when asked for
> 20. Technical support is structured in a way which makes it quick and
> easy to report a problem. ANSWER:2
> 21. When reporting a problem, we are able to reach qualified assistance
> quickly. ANSWER:3
> 22. Overall, product support is very good. ANSWER:3
> 23. The favored response from support is: Restart your server. ANSWER:2
> BACKUP AND RECOVERY
> 24. We have never lost data because of problems with this product.
> ANSWER:2
> 25. We have always been able to recover from any crash. ANSWER:3
> TRANSITION
> 26. There was a steep learning curve when we transitioned to this
> product. ANSWER:3
> 27. The product is very portable. We switched platforms very easily.
> ANSWER:2
> PERFORMANCE
> 28. We are very satisfied with performance. ANSWER:2
> DECISION SUPPORT
> 29. The product provides the features we need to build our data
> warehouse. ANSWER:2
> NT
> 30. The vendor shows a commitment to the NT platform. ANSWER:1
> UNIX
> 31. The vendor is very committed to the UNIX platform. ANSWER:1
> STANDARDS
> 32. Limitations in the vendors implementation of SQL are a problem. ANSWER:3
> AVAILABLE APPLICATIONS
> 33. A large number of off-the-shelf applications work well with this
> product. ANSWER:2
> TRAINING
> 34. The vendor offers sufficient training courses and qualified
> instructors. ANSWER:2
>
>
Received on Wed Aug 30 1995 - 00:00:00 CEST