Welcome to the IIUG Alert! The IIUG Alert contains time-sensitive material for the IBM Informix community. Please provide feedback via e-mail to ug@iiug.org.
CONTENTS
- Janet Perna – Keynote Address: replay it now!
- IBM Informix Conference – Big Success!
- IIUG Board of Directors – Election Results
- Informix Conferences in 2002
- International Viewpoint from Bernd Langer (in German)
- Useful Links
Janet Perna – Keynote Address: replay it now!
You can view online the IBM Informix Conference keynote address from Janet Perna, IBM Data Management General Manager. Simply go to www.iiug.org and follow the link on our front page. You can also view the replay at http://www-4.ibm.com/software/data/informix/events/iic/keynote1023.html.
Note: You must have Real Player or Windows Media Player in order to view the replay.
IBM Informix Conference – Big Success!
Las Vegas… October 22-25, 2001
NOTE: Below are outtakes from the IIUG’s coverage of the IBM Informix Conference. If you attended the conference and want to share some experiences, please send an e-mail to david@iiug.org.
Following are highlights from each day of the conference:
Monday, October 22
TUTORIALS:
- Informix DBAs, developers, and users attended several focused 3-hour sessions.
OPENING RECEPTION:
- Always one of the favorite events at the conference, the reception featured the opening of vendor booths, great opportunities for networking, a live band and the always-popular free food and drinks!
Tuesday, October 23
OPENING SESSION:
- The opening session was introduced by the IIC’s master of ceremonies, Informix marketing director, Brian Staff.
- Brian provided his usual entertaining dialogue as well as his personal thoughts on IBM’s acquisition of Informix. He is a long-time Informix employee and is extremely energized by IBM’s commitment to Informix.
- Brian Staff showed his incredible ability to perform MAGIC, introducing an “assistant” that performed a very impressive card trick. Brian said that he was pleased and would welcome the assistant back to one or more additional sessions (we’re guessing that the assistant was actually the magician).
- Janet Perna, VP of IBM’s Data Management Group, delivered the keynote address; highlights are provided in the following bullets. This session was piped live via a Webcast to Informix loyalists worldwide.
- In 1997, Janet was commissioned by IBM CEO Lou Gerstner to build the Data Management Group’s “distributed platforms” database business. She budgeted $1 billion for a 3-year commitment that included the addition of 2,000 employees.
- Since its inception just four years ago, Data Management has shown incredible growth and profitability.
- With the acquisition of Informix, Janet showed that Data Management’s database market-share was about equal to Oracle’s share (approximately 33% each). The Informix customer base doubled IBM’s Unix market-share. Also, DB2’s growth was much higher than that of Oracle.
- Janet’s group, which also owns DB2 and several other data-related software products, purchased Informix for another $1 billion.
- Support for Informix is NOT going away! The Informix user community shows an incredible commitment to its products and IBM will support them. An example of IBM’s dedication is the IMS product, which has been supported for more than 30 years.
- Janet expressed her great appreciation for the IIUG’s support of Informix products and users, committing full support to the future of the group.
- Data Management will create a database engine that combines many of the best features of DB2 and Informix. This is very similar to the Arrowhead project that Informix had started before the acquisition.
- DataBlade support will be built into future versions of DB2.
- IF desired by the customer, IBM can assist with migrations from Informix to DB2.
- IBM will work hard to provide integration between Informix and various IBM products and current technologies, including WebSphere, SOAP, XML, and more.
- The IIUG hosted its popular Ask The Experts sessions as well as the new Interactive Product Roadmap sessions which provide users with a peek at upcoming product releases as well as the opportunity to influence new features.
OTHER NOTES FROM THE DAY:
- The IIUG hosted the Ask The Executives and Meet the Developers sessions.
- IBM hosted an after dinner reception for partners. Our reporters on the floor said that IBM has many new and exciting opportunities for partners, including the very impressive PartnerWorld, an online resource that includes numerous benefits for partners.
IIUG ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING:
- IIUG president Fred Hubbard recapped the many achievements of the IIUG, including its incredible support since the announcement of IBM’s acquisition of Informix.
- Rob Vorbroker announced the new board of directors, as described below.
- Fred discussed IIUG’s partnership with the International DB2 User Group (IDUG) and IBM Learning Services. In lieu of the typical Informix user conference format, Learning Services will offer a barrage of Informix-focused sessions at its next U.S. DB2 conference, scheduled to kick off on September 9, 2002 in Anaheim, California. IIUG will also be supportive of Informix-related content presented by Learning Services at a March conference in France as well as the IDUG’s conferences in Europe and America. See the upcoming section, “Informix Conferences in 2002.”
- The new “IUGGY” awards were announced by Malcolm Weallans, Ron Flannery and Stuart Litel. These IIUG Director’s Awards are designed to honor Informix users that have contributed significantly to the Informix community. This year’s winners were Walt Hultgren, Lester Knutsen, and Jonathan Leffler.
Wednesday, October 24
- The IIUG hosted more Ask The Experts sessions as well as a session on ISQL and 4GL.
- IBM continued to reinforce the message that support is NOT GOING AWAY for most flagship Informix products.
- The conference party occurred at the MGM Grand. This is always a very well presented and orchestrated event. Many thanks to Ellen Michaels Presents, who was responsible for the party as well as the entire conference!
IIUG Board of Directors – Election Results
For the second year in a row, the nominations and elections of the IIUG Board of Directors were held electronically via email and the IIUG web site. The Nominations Committee, lead by Sounia Nejad-Chaney, promoted the IIUG nominations process through the IIUG web site, c.d.i., the IIUG Alert and E-newsletter. Nominees were given a description of jobs and responsibilities as a board member and were asked to complete a biography and vision statement. Once the nomination period had expired, the nominees’ biographies and vision statements were presented on the IIUG web site. IIUG members were allowed to vote for 11 Board Member nominees (one member is appointed by IBM Informix) via the web site from August 1, 2001 to September 15th, 2001. Rob Vorbroker, a non-returning Board Member, supervised the Elections. When the elections were completed the results were validated from the raw data (no hanging or dimpled “chads”!) and the elected members were contacted to once again verify their desire and ability to serve on the IIUG Board. More IIUG members voted for this Board than in any previous election!
The IIUG Board of Directors for 2001-2002 are: Stuart Litel, Ron Flannery, Fred Hubbard, Paul Mosser, James Edmiston, Sounia Nejad-Chaney, Malcolm Weallans, Ashley Williams, Jerry Hamilton, David Smith, Hal Maner and Martha Schraer (IBM Informix appointee). For more information on these Board members please refer to the IIUG web site at /iiug/board.html.
Anyone with questions or suggestions regarding the nominations or elections process may contact sounia@iiug.org.
Informix Conferences in 2002
IBM Learning Services will work with IIUG to continue to sponsor Informix content at its conferences. The conferences will include Informix-related content, Interactive Product Roadmap, and Ask the Experts sessions at both the Europe, Middle East, & Africa (EMEA) Conference in Nice, France (March) as well as at the American Conference in Anaheim, California (September). IIUG plans on providing significant representation at the EMEA Conference as well as holding an EMEA LUG Presidents Meeting. The Informix User Group Leadership Council (IUGLC) meeting and the IIUG Annual General Meeting will be held in conjunction with the American Conference in September.
IIUG will also have a presence at the two International DB2 User Group (IDUG) conferences: the American Conference to be held in San Diego (May) and the EMEA Conference to be held in Lisbon, Portugal (October).
International Viewpoint from Bernd Langer (in German)
Departed board member Bernd Langer has supplied in German his viewpoint for the benefit of some of our international community. The complete report can be found on the IIUG web site.
- Die IBM Informix Conference, Las Vegas 22.-25.10.2001 – die etwas andere Konferenz !
- Dieses Jahr war es Las Vegas, die Stadt der Unterhaltung – in der die Informix-Anwender-Konferenz (IUC) – statt fand. Es war eine deutlich andere Konferenz im Vergleich zu den vorherigen Jahren.
- Ein Ergebnisbericht dessen, was dort stattgefunden hat sowie eine Betrachtung aus Sicht eines Anwenders/Kunden ist zu finden unter: /news/alerts/ibm_infa_conf_de.html.
Useful Links
- IBM Informix Homepage
- IBM Informix Training
- IBM Informix Certification
- New Features of IDS 9.3 – Technical Web Cast Replay
- Informix Product Family – Informix Portfolio: Future Directions, Updated Version
- Recent Data Management Product Announcements
- IBM Developer Works – Tools, Code and Tutorials for Open-Standards Based Development
Closing and Credits
The International Informix Users Group (IIUG) is an international organization designed to enhance communications between Informix and its worldwide user community. The IIUG now has over 13,000 members and enjoys major support from the IBM Data Management division. We also help local user groups get started and promoted.
Sources: IIUG Board of Directors
Editor: Rob Vorbroker, David Smith, and Ron Flannery, IIUG Board of Directors
For comments, please e-mail to ug@iiug.org
