IIUG Insider (Issue #96) June 2008 Other Issues

Highlights: Inside IBM's Informix Marketing Strategy

Welcome to the International Informix Users Group (IIUG) Insider! Designed for IIUG members and Informix user group leaders, this publication contains timely and relevant information for the IBM Informix community.

Contents:

• Editorial
• Highlights
  • Inside IBM's Informix Marketing Strategy
• Conference corner
  • Save $200 - Register for the IBM Information on Demand global conference by 15 Aug
  • Recap from the Information on Demand EMEA 2008 in The Hague
• Education
  • New 13 IDS videos on YouTube
  • Be smart, spell "Interoperability"
• Developer corner
  • MediaWiki and IDS
  • New in DeveloperWorks
• Informix news
• Informix resources
  • Informix Blogs and things
• Calendar of events
• Useful links
• Closing and credits

Dear friends,

At the National Institute for Testing and Evaluation we rely on Informix. All our proprietary applications run on IDS. Until Friday June 27 we had some instances on IDS 11.10 but our largest production instance was still IDS on 10.0. We needed to convert everything to IDS 11 by the beginning of July. Why so? IDS 11 has features like new isolation levels and multiple triggers on the same event that we depended on for a mission critical application that had to go live by that timeframe.

Converting IDS to a higher level was always a piece of cake. We tested converting from 10 to 11 during the IDS 11 beta program and even performed it on several instances in our working environment. But when we tried to convert our main production system it crashed. For the first time in many years we were depending on the IBM support team to come to our rescue. I would like to thank them for their great help. It was overwhelming to see the dedication, efficiency, promptness and skill of IBM support team. It is touching to know that Informix users can rely not only on the finest database but also on the best support team.

All's well that ends well. We converted all our development and production systems to IDS 11.5. IDS 11.5 is a great release. We knew from our experience in the beta and we know it now as regular users.

Gary Ben-Israel
IIUG Insider Editor
IIUG Board of Directors
gary@iiug.org

President's Note

Just a reminder that the latest version of Informix Dynamic Server - IDS 11.5 AKA Cheetah 2 Developer Edition and Open Admin Tool (OAT) is available free to IIUG members. To obtain your copy for multiple platforms including AIX, HP. Linux, Sun and Windows, go to the IIUG Web Site, log in to the Member Area, and then click on Software Download button. Note: You must verify your personal profile and email address since May 1, 2008 to get your free copy!

Also, as I was part (a very small part) of Gary's support situation that he mentions above, the IBM Informix support staff team assisted him in under ONE hour and the great people there, including Al Martin, Pradeep Kutty, Deen Murad, Dominique Walrave, John Dryburgh, Andreas Legner and others, had Gary's answers to him in a very short time and this was at 7PM Eastern Time after hours! Great job people. It is good to know when that rare problem does hit, these people are on top of it with great help. I personally have only done one upgrade from IDS 11.1 to IDS 11.5 so far. It went perfectly and took less than 30 msnutes.

Stuart Litel
President
IIUG

By Inhi Cho
Vice President Data Management Marketing

During the last few months, I have had the pleasure of meeting with many members of the IIUG community and observing first-hand the legendary enthusiasm of Informix users. I appreciate this opportunity to share some thoughts about Informix's marketing strategy, and I invite your feedback.

Informix Dynamic Server continues to be a major focus of the IBM Data Management portfolio and IBM's Information On Demand strategy.

You know and love Informix Dynamic Server because you can set it and forget it. It's the server of choice for high-volume transactions. In the latest release, you have even more options for data availability and you have the option to scale up your systems with lower-cost hardware without adding significant administration costs. The remote administration features grant DBAs the ability to manage their Informix installations from anywhere in the world.

Our marketing approach is powerfully simple, just like IDS!

IDS is optimized for easy administration and high availability for transaction-intensive solutions. We're making these benefits known worldwide though an integrated approach that brings together IBM customers, partners and thought leaders. The IIUG community is a vital part of our approach. Here are just a few examples:

• Increasing global awareness
  Online Web ads are running on more than 20 IT sites including CNET, InformationWeek and Computerworld.
• Compelling, relevant access to thought leaders: Chat with the Labs programs
  We're delivering popular quarterly webcasts with topics that reach new customers and help keep the existing Informix community up-to-date on developments.
• Market-leading product releases
  The recent IDS 11.5 launch press release attracted the attention of about 35 news and Internet venues and the attention of key industry analysts. The release also included support for Apple developers on the Mac platform.
• Investments in learning and education
  We continue to invest in the production and distribution of Informix materials, such as the IDS 11 and 11.5 books and Discovery DVDs. The benefits of IDS are spread through a number of IBM and third-party events, including the very successful IIUG conference.

We are committed to continuing the phenomenal growth of Informix. In today's world, success depends on the strength and sharing in communities-IDS users come together in new ways everyday. From new application areas, such as the Mac platform, to academic initiatives for IDS worldwide, interest and commitment to Informix grows daily. And we continue to work with our colleagues across IBM and an increasing list of business partners to expand the significant portfolio of software that works with IDS. The momentum continues with 150 new Informix business partnerships since 2007, all providing an even richer ecosystem of IDS-based applications and education and integration services.

The IIUG community is a fantastic partner in propelling IDS growth. The best marketing is word of mouth from loyal users like the IIUG members. We are proud of our partnership with IIUG and we're just getting started! We count on IIUG to help us get the latest information out to the Informix community through this newsletter, the Web site and the many user group events and activities.

We have a number of events and activities coming up where we hope to see you and your colleagues, including the Information On Demand Conference in Las Vegas from Oct. 26-31. There will be a strong Informix program, and it will be a great opportunity to meet with IBM and Informix technical leaders. You will also be able to participate in many hands-on labs and sessions all week devoted just to Informix. In addition, IDS will be included in many other sessions, demos and activities so you can discover the many ways Informix works with other hardware and software products across the IBM portfolio.

This is an exciting time for Informix and its customers. New ideas and improvements come from many sources so please let us know your thoughts and how we can help.

Press coverage of IDS 11.5 release

• IBM uncages Cheetah 2 data server
• IBM Informix upgrade enhances clustering, database management
• IBM 'Cheetah 2' mauls data costs
• IBM's IDS to support Mac platform
• IBM IOD Las Vegas conference information

IBM Information on Demand 2008 (October 26-21 in Las Vegas) is the year's premier information management event for business and IT executives, managers, DBAs, developers and business partners. Learn all there is to know about data and master data management, enterprise content management, information integration, business intelligence and performance management. Choose from 600 technical sessions. Get free certification testing. And enjoy Vegas-quality entertainment with Earth, Wind & Fire, The Village People and master of ceremonies Martin Short.

Need help in convincing your management? Listen to our podcast "Attending Information On Demand 2008 is the best investment you could make for your company"

• Hear Podcast
• More Information
   

The IBM information on Demand conference is always a spectacular event. This is true the EMEA conference is as well as the one in the US. The Informix sessions were few but the offered high quality education to the attendees.

Before the conference we held a Customer Advisory Committee meeting. In the CAC and thru out the conference I had the opportunity to meet Informix users and business partners and to learn that the momentum Informix is gathering in the US does not skip EMEA.

I would love to see more Informix content at the IOD EMEA. We have a large community of loyal Informix users that deserve it. Dear European friends I hope to meet more of you at the IOD EMEA next year.

Gary Ben-Israel

• Informix Dynamic Server and Websphere MQ integration
• IBM Informix (IDS) - High and Continuous Availability
• Dynamic SQL in IBM Informix Dynamic Server 11.5
• Informix Dynamic Server v11 - New SQL Features - Part 1
• Informix Dynamic Server v11 - New SQL Features - Part 2
• Informix Dynamic Server v11 - New SQL Features - Part3
• Informix Dynamic Server V11 - New SQL Features - Part 4
• Informix Dynamic Server v11 - New SQL Features Part 5
• Informix Dynamic Server v11 - New SQL Features - Part6
• Informix Dynamic Server v11 - New SQL Features - Part7
• Informix Dynamic Server v11 - New SQL Features - Part 8
• Informix Dynamic Server v11 - New SQL Features - Part 9
• Informix Dynamic Server v11 - New SQL Features - Part10

Go green when you enroll in an IBM ILO class!

http://www.iiug.org/url/ilo.html

Next Saturday night, when you go to some fancy place with your friends, here's a new word you can look smart with — Interoperability. This 8-syllable word is indeed a must in social situations where you, a lonely DBA, go out with doctors and dentists...

What does it mean? IBM released a new set of web pages on interoperability of Informix Dynamic Server (IDS) with other IBM products. Visit

By the way, do you know what the I in IBM stands for?

MediaWIki was originally written for Wikipedia. Do I need to say more? I think everybody knows about Wikipedia. Mediawiki is available as a free software package at http://www.mediawiki.org.

A wiki can be a wonderful way to keep members of an organization informed about the activities of the group. Mediawiki provides capabilities to search the content of the wiki to quickly find the information you are looking for. One feature I find particularly attractive is the ability to generate syndications (RSS or Atom feeds). This means that a user can subscribe to the syndication and find out what is changing in the wiki automatically.

I have completed a first pass at having MediaWiki 1.12.0 (current release) running on IDS 11.x. The reason IDS 11.x is required is that it takes advantage of the Basic Text Search (BTS) DataBlade to provide text search on titles and pages content.

I consider this a beta phase that requires more testing and will require additional modifications. I would like to know if anyone would be interested in "playing" with MediaWiki on IDS and provide feedback. The software can be installed in minutes. One way to get the proper PHP environment running is to install the Open Admin Tool for IDS (OAT).

Any interests? Let me know.

Jacques Roy - jacquesr@us.ibm.com

Jacques Roy
Technical Product Manager
IDS Development
Competitive Technologies and Enablement
Read my blog, pass it on:
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/blogs/page/jacquesroy

Compare the Informix Dynamic Server Version 11 editions

Get an introduction to the various editions of IBM Informix Dynamic Server, and compare features, benefits, and licensing considerations in a side-by-side table. Regardless of which edition you choose, IDS brings you legendary ease-of-use, reliability, stability, and access to extensibility features.16 Jun 2008

Dynamic SQL support in Informix Dynamic Server Stored Procedure Language

Review the SPL and the capabilities uniquely available with dynamic SQL, and then explore many examples that help you get started with implementing this feature in your own databases. Also, take a look at security issues and see how to avoid pitfalls.12 Jun 2008

• HiT Software DBMoto Gains IBM Informix Dynamic Server Validation
• IBM Adds High Speed, In-Memory Option To DB2, Informix
• BEE IT firm goes national
• Latest data warehousing news
• IBM joins in-memory database party
• MicroStrategy Celebrates 10-Year Anniversary as Public Company and here
• Doing the Math on Virtualization

• The IIUG forums at http://www.iiug.org/forums/technical.php **** these are very good****
• IDS Experts at http://www-03.ibm.com/developerworks/blogs/page/idsteam
• Guy Bowerman at http://www-03.ibm.com/developerworks/blogs/page/gbowerman
• Madisons blog at http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/blogs/page/roundrep
• Fernando Nunes at http://informix-technology.blogspot.com/
• The Informix Zone at http://www.informix-zone.com
• The Informix mag at http://www.informixmag.com/
• There is now an Informix group on LinkedIn. The group is called "Informix Supporter", so anyone loving Informix can join, from current IBM employees, former Informix employees to users can join. It will also be a good occasion to get in touch with others or long-time-no-seen friends. If you fancy showing the Informix logo on your profile, join. To join, simply go to http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/25049/5E4B2048E558

In response to your input, we have created a page on the IIUG web site containing all the links we used to include. Please find it at:

http://www.iiug.org/quicklinks.html

The International Informix Users Group (IIUG) is an organization designed to enhance communications between its worldwide user community and IBM. IIUG's membership database now exceeds 25,000 entries and enjoys the support and commitment of IBM's Data Management division. Key programs include local user groups and special interest groups, which we promote and assist from launch through growth.

For comments, please send an email to gary@iiug.org.