IIUG Insider (Issue #19) 24 January 2003

Highlights: IIUG Survey, Sounia N. Chaney, IDS Beta for Linux and More…

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:

  1. IIUG Survey on Direction and Priorities for 2003
  2. Profiling Sounia Nejad Chaney, IIUG Board Member
  3. IDS 9.40 Beta Program for Linux Users Announced
  4. Oracle Makes Surveys While IBM Grows in Database Market Share
  5. BTA: Worth a Good Read
  6. IBM Learning Services Announces IBM Data Mgmt. Conference
  7. IBM Reported 2002 Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Results
  8. IBM Introduces Regency Premier Support Services!
  9. IBM Data Management Training News
  10. Useful Links
  11. Closing and Credits

IIUG Survey on Direction and Priorities for 2003

In anticipation of its February meeting, the IIUG Board of Directors has launched a members-only survey requesting opinion regarding the services offered by IIUG. You are highly encouraged to visit the IIUG Member Area right away at /members and click on the button labeled “IIUG Survey” at the top right of the screen.

To further motivate membership response to this survey, IIUG will reward every 10th respondent with a gift, which will be shipped with a personalized greeting letter signed by Jerry Hamilton, IIUG President.


Profiling Sounia Nejad Chaney, IIUG Board Member

Sounia Nejad Chaney, IIUG Board member since 1999 is profiled in this issue of the IIUG Insider. Her response to our questionnaire has been included in full.

Q: How do you use Informix in your “real” job (DBA, Consultant, Developer, etc.)?
A: I am President of ChainLink Networking Solutions which has been a system integration, DataBlade developer, and consulting partner with Informix and now IBM since 1995. I am hands on involved in every project that the company takes on as the IT project manager, quality assurance specialist, and customer advocate.
Q: How long have you been using Informix products?
A: Since 1994
Q: What is your role on the IIUG Board?
A: I am the Webcast coordinator, Partners SIG liaison, and work on marketing initiatives (i.e. Design on the IIUG print ad.)
Q: Why did you volunteer to be on the Board?
A: To assure the survival of Informix technology and to protect the investment made in it by clients, partners, and end-users worldwide.
Q: What do you want to accomplish this year on the Board?
A: To continue to document the Webcast process, attract new and exciting technical topics to benefit our members, introduce more of the IIUG Board members as hosts and highlight our member experts as speakers on the Webcasts.
Q: Where are you from?
A: I was born in Iran and migrated to the U.S. after the 1979 revolution. Had to learn English here in a hurry and embrace a new culture while trying to maintain my roots. I believe my diverse background assists me in relating to the worldwide membership that we serve.
Q: Best Informix story?
A: When Informix bought Illustra for their object oriented technology, our company, ChainLink was approached to produce the demos using all the DataBlades. It was very exciting to see our HAZMAT and Asset Tracking demos used worldwide at conferences and client meetings. Also, an Informix proof of concept that we created for the FBI led to our production of a network security product that is now on the market. www.chainlink.com/halo
Q: Worst Informix nightmare.
A: Seeing a client go to Oracle after their applications ran like “work horses” on Informix. The Oracle consulting team took over a year on some cases to convert our applications to theirs and they still did not run as fast or smoothly as they did on Informix.
Q: Can you tell us about your family and hobbies outside of the IIUG?
A: I am married with three children, and reside in the Washington, DC area. I work full time with my husband, who used to work for IBM. We met when we were both weekend ski instructors. Now, we are also into martial arts – he has black belt and I have a brown (slowed down since a knee surgery.) Love to travel and go to the beach and currently live on the Internet.

See Sounia and other members of the IIUG Board of directors as captured attending the recent WAIUG Forum 2002 at /iiug/09nov02_board3.html.


IDS 9.40 Beta Program for Linux Users Announced

IBM’s IDS team is looking for formal and informal beta sites to test IBM Informix Dynamic Server (IDS) Version 9.40 on Linux Intel and Linux zSeries starting next week.

Customers testing on Linux Intel will receive a pre-release version of IDS 9.40.UC1 targeted for General Availability in March 2003. Due to the short time frame for testing, the bulk of the feedback will be incorporated in the UC2 release. Beta customers who wish to continue testing beyond UC1 will receive a beta version of IDS 9.40.UC2 in March 2003. Customers testing on Linux zSeries will receive a beta version of IDS.9.40.FC1 and will be able to test until the end of February 2003. IDS 9.40 on Linux zSeries is targeted for General Availability late April 2003.

Requirements:

  • Be a IDS 7.x or 9.x customer
  • Provide a test plan (formal sites only)
  • Sign a confidentiality agreement

Formal beta sites will have access to Technical Support as well as representatives from the Development team via conference calls. Informal beta sites will have email support only.

If you are interested in participating or if you would like to receive more information, please contact Helene Tur (650-926- 6011, turh@us.ibm.com) no later than January 31st, 2003.


Oracle Makes Surveys While IBM Grows in Database Market Share

Patricia Quinn, Worldwide Brand Manager for Informix Dynamic Server at IBM Data Management submitted the following item to ENews:

The Dow Jones Business News Wire released a news item last week entitled “Informix Users Migrating to Oracle, Not IBM”. The story references an independent survey conducted by Harte-Hanks in which 155 European Informix customers were interviewed on their preference of database. According to the findings, 33 of these customers have migrated to Oracle. An Oracle spokesperson is quoted as saying that ‘droves’ of Informix customers are moving to Oracle.

Following are the facts behind this news item that can be used with your peers, management and Business Partners to shed the truth on this report.

We are not seeing a significant number of customers migrating to Oracle. In fact, since we acquired Informix we’ve seen a slowdown in revenue decline. This is another example of Oracle reacting to IBM’s momentum. In 2001, Gartner Dataquest named IBM the worldwide market share leader in the database space (all platforms). The firm also named IBM the market share leader in EMEA in new license revenue (all platforms and distributed).

Throughout 2002, we continued to gain market share at the expense of Oracle. Our database revenue outpaced Oracle throughout the year. In the fourth-quarter, DB2 grew 11% and 9% for the full year. This is in sharp contrast to Oracle who recently announced flat database revenues in their latest quarter and a 12% decline in their last four quarters.

In addition, in the fourth-quarter our data management revenue grew 24% in Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA).

The migration statements are based on an Oracle commissioned survey by a company that also happens to be a third party reseller of Oracle products. The methodology of the survey is also questionable. Oracle has not disclosed the name of customers surveyed and the timing of when the migrations occurred was not part of the methodology.

The story focuses on our data management Business Partners in EMEA and their supposed flight from IBM to Oracle. These statements do not accurately reflect our long-standing relationship and the momentum we’re seeing with our partners:

IBM’s EMEA Informix channel revenue grew in double digits in 2002. Our EMEA channel growth is outpacing Oracle by an estimated three to one.

All of IBM’s top 28 Informix partners in EMEA continue to sell Informix and, in fact, are increasing their commitment to IBM by including additional IBM software products into their offerings.

IBM has a 98% retention rate of former Informix top customers worldwide.

According to IIUG President Jerry Hamilton, approximately 90% of the Informix customers and partners will continue using their IBM database products and the user group has grown over 28% in 2002 with a major increase in Europe. In addition, the Infobahn road shows highlighting IBM’s commitment to the Informix base and the new SWG offerings including DB2 have been a tremendous success, with over 60 road shows and over 4000 attendees.

The article states that ‘support for packaged application vendors’ was an important factor in deciding to migrate for those customers surveyed. For the upcoming IDS 9.4 launch SAP, PeopleSoft, Baan, Lawson and Business Objects have all committed their support and intend to port their applications to IDS 9.4 over the next few months.

In September of 2002 IBM released a published interview with Janet Perna and Karl Heinz Hess of SAP reiterating SAPs commitment to Informix products. “SAP has supported Informix since 1992 and continues to have a strong commitment to the platform…SAP will sell and ship mySAP.com on IDS to new and existing customers and support this platform. It’s business as usual…” Karl-Heinz Hess, Member of the Extended Executive Board at SAP, September, 2002.

In summary, our Data Management results speak for themselves. We are outpacing the industry by providing the right products and support to all of our Data Management customers and we are beating Oracle to the punch again and again.

This is report is based on a less than credible survey designed to distract customers and the market from IBM’s successful business results which were also announced, not coincidentally, yesterday. While Oracle makes up surveys, we are providing the best products, the best services and the best return on investment for our customers and partners. Thank you for taking to the time to make sure our customers understand these market truths.

If your company or an Informix customer who you are familiar with is migrating away from Informix and towards Oracle or Microsoft, please write to ENews@IIUG.org and provide the name of the company and a contact name and e-mail address. IIUG is very interested in the collection of factual information regarding such migrations.


BTA: Worth a Good Read

Don’t miss giving a good read to the January issue of Database Trends and Applications (DBTA) which should have arrived last week to subscribers in the United States and Canada.

In addition to an article by IIUG President Jerry Hamilton on the value of “You”, our user community, there is an interview with Gary Schneider, IBM Data Management director of Channels and Services, on IBM’s Business Partnership Initiative with relevant content for Informix and U2 customers.

The IIUG is a media partner with DBTA because it is a valuable resource for application developers and is an opportunity for broader exposure to a much larger audience and range of solution providers. They attempt to provide a level playing field for all the big names in the Database arena. If you haven’t subscribed, try them out at: http://www.dbta.com/subscribe.html.

Also, don’t miss the interesting articles on National Geographic’s e-commerce launch and Harvard University Museum’s “Ant Database”.

If you like your information in smaller bites (not the ant variety), you can also sign up for a “5 Minute Briefing” newsletter at: http://www.dbta.com/5_minute_briefing/subscribe.html


IBM Learning Services Announces IBM Data Mgmt. Conference

IBM Learning Services (ILS), a unit of IBM Global Services, has announced its 2003 IBM Technical Conferences schedule for the United States. Many of you have probably received a colorful e- mail postcard telling you all about it. For those who have not, you can find the information at http://www.ibm.com/services/learning/conf/index.php.

Note that the IBM Data Management Technical Conference, which will include significant Informix-related content, is scheduled for October 27-31 in Las Vegas, Nevada. IIUG will most likely hold its Annual General Meeting and other leadership events in conjunction with this event, so keep it in mind as you make your plans.

ILS’s conference calendar for Europe is also available on the web at http://www.ibm.com/services/learning/conf/europe/.


IBM Reported 2002 Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Results

Last week, on January 16th, IBM announced its financial results for the final quarter of calendar year 2002 as well as its full- year 2002 results. The announcement is available on the web at http://www.investor.ibm.com/investor/4q02/4q02earnings.phtml.

Highlights of this announcement include the following:

  • The company remained profitable:
    • Fourth-quarter diluted earnings per share of $1.11, including $.23 of net charges, or $1.34 excluding the net charges
    • Income from continuing operations of $1.9 billion, including $405 million of net charges in the fourth quarter
  • Quarterly revenue was up: Revenues from continuing operations for the fourth quarter were $23.7 billion, up 7 percent (4 percent at constant currency) compared with the fourth quarter of 2001 revenues of $22.1 billion.
  • Software revenues (for the fourth quarter) were flat (down 2 percent in constant currency) at $3.8 billion compared to the 2001 fourth quarter. Middleware products, which include WebSphere and DB2, declined 1 percent at constant currency in the fourth quarter of 2002.
  • IBM’s leading database management software, DB2, grew 11 percent (in the fourth quarter of 2002).
  • For the year ended December 31, 2002, income from continuing operations was $5.3 billion, or $3.07 per diluted common share. In the prior-year period, income from continuing operations was $8.1 billion, or $4.59 per diluted share.
  • Revenues from continuing operations (in 2002) totaled $81.2 billion, a decline of 2 percent (3 percent at constant currency) compared with 2001 revenues of $83.1 billion.

IBM Introduces Regency Premier Support Services!

Nicole Silvia Hayes, of IBM Data Management provided this item to ENews:

This new program carries forward the best practices of the popular Informix Regency Services and Enterprise Support, and extends them to cover DB2 for the UNIX, Linux, and NT environments as well. The program offers you a closer partnership with the IBM Data Management Customer Support team to help you maximize the return on your investment in IBM software. As an add-on to Passport Advantage, it equips you with a Technical Account Manager from Customer Support who understands both Informix software and your particular support needs. For customers with large, leading-edge, complex environments built on either Informix or DB2, there is also an option to have a full- time senior support analyst on-site in your own data center.

For more information please visit:

http://www-3.ibm.com/software/data/support/premier/regency.pdf


IBM Data Management Training News

Nicole Silvia Hayes, of IBM Data Management also provided the following two items regarding Informix-related training:

Assess Your Skills Free of Charge!

Take advantage of the IBM Certification Exam Tool (ICE). We have designed on-line pre-assessment tests that contain representative questions of the actual exams. These tests will better prepare you for your chosen Informix certification path. To register for an exam or for more information visit the ICE site at: http://certify.torolab.ibm.com/icetest.jsp

Increase the Productivity of your Informix Technology with Training Services

Data Management Training Services offers a complete range of classroom courses, technical certification preparation resources and distance learning offerings for relational database management and IBM Informix(r) databases and tools. To find the training and certification resources you need visit our web site at: http://www.ibm.com/services/learning/us/catalog/informix/


Useful Links

IIUG Software Repository: /software/
IIUG Search Page: /search.html/
IIUG Events Calendar: /cgi-bin/events2.cgi/
IIUG Discussion Forums: /forums
IIUG Webcast Corner: /news/webcasts.html
IBM Informix Homepage: http://www.ibm.com/informix/
Informix Answers Online: http://www.ibm.com/software/data/informix/pubs/library/
Informix Product Family News: http://www.ibm.com/software/data/informix/news/
Informix Today – Subscription & Archive: http://www.ibm.com/software/data/informix/informixtoday/
IBM Informix Support Site: http://www.ibm.com/software/data/informix/support
Informix Developer Zone: http://www7b.boulder.ibm.com/dmdd/zones/informix/
Data Management Certification Program: http://www.ibm.com/software/data/db2/skills/cert.html
Informix Page Within IBM PartnerWorld for Developers: http://www.developer.ibm.com/data/informindex.php
Recent Data Management Product Announcements: http://www.ibm.com/software/data/launch/
Upcoming IBM Conferences Worldwide: http://www.ibm.com/services/learning/conf/

Closing and Credits

The International Informix Users Group (IIUG) is an organization designed to enhance communications between IBM and its worldwide user community. IIUG’s membership database now exceeds 16,000 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.

Sources: IIUG Board of Directors
Editors: David Smith, IIUG Board of Directors
Jean Georges Perrin, IIUG Board of Directors, and
Fred Hubbard, IIUG Managing Director
For comments, please send an email to ug@iiug.org.
Published
Categorized as Insider

By Vicente Salvador

Board member since 2014, a user since 1989 and Informix fan. I'am software architect which allow me to combine technical and business skills.