International Informix Users Group

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14 August 08 - IIUG.org - Sellout Expected for the 2009 IIUG Informix Conference... Read 29 April 08 - IntelligentEnterprise.com - IBM Informix Upgrade Enhances Clustering, Database Management... Read 29 April 08 - itweek.com - IBM 'Cheetah 2' mauls data costs... Read 28 April 08 - eWeek.com - IBM Uncages Cheetah 2 Data Server... Read 28 April 08 - CNNMoney.com - IBM Helps Clients Reduce Data Management Costs With New Informix Dynamic Server... Read 09 April 08 - CNNMoney.com - MediaSpan Embeds IBM Informix Dynamic Server Software for Delivering News to Print, Web and Wireless Devices... Read 08 April 08 - IT-Director.com - Informix seeks developers... Read 18 February 08 - marketwire.com - Icarus Studios Partners With IBM to Upgrade Performance, Availability for Its Online Games... Read 17 January 08 - eWeek.com - IBM Adds Mac Support to IDS for Higher Education... Read 17 January 08 - informationweek.com - Lotus Notes For iPhone Signals Closer Ties Between IBM, Apple... Read 16 January 08 - marketwire.com - IBM Informix Dynamic Server to Deliver Support for Mac OS X... Read 16 January 08 - internetnews.com - IBM's IDS to Support Mac Platform... Read 28 June 07 - REG Developer - IBM and Informix tie down Cheetah... Read 27 June 07 - CBRonline.com - IBM corrects its own Informix customer figures... Read 14 June 07 - vnunet.com - IBM changes spots with Informix 'Cheetah' database... Read 14 June 07 - eChannelLine - IBM expands scope for IDS... Read 14 June 07 - Resellernews - IBM: Informix database alive and kicking... Read 13 June 07 - DB2 Magazine - Cheetah is now out of the gate... Read 12 June 07 - IBM - IDS 11 release announcement (pdf)... Read 12 June 07 - ChannelWeb Network - IBM Uncages IDS 11, Aka Cheetah, Database... Read 12 June 07 - eWeek.com - IBM's 'Cheetah' Ready to Pounce... Read 12 June 07 - InformationWeek - IBM Unleashes 'Cheetah' Database... Read 12 June 07 - WebWire - IBM Strengthens Database Portfolio With New Informix Dynamic Server... Read 12 June 07 - Intelligent Enterprise - IBM Unveils Informix Upgrade... Read 12 June 07 - ComputerWeekly.com - IBM's Cheetah IDS makes leap to better data centre clustering... Read 12 June 07 - ebiz - IBM Unveils Next Generation Informix Dynamic Server... Read 12 June 07 - computerworld.com - Will 'Cheetah' help IBM's Informix chase down market share?... Read 12 June 07 - Internetnews.com - No Data Can Outrun This 'Cheetah'... Read 12 June 07 - de.internet.com - IBM neuer Datenbank-Server mit Codenamen Cheetah ist fertig... Read 12 June 07 - verifox.de - IBM stärkt Datenbank-Portfolio mit neuem Informix Dynamic Server... Read 12 June 07 - golem.de - Informix 11 vorgestellt... Read 12 June 07 - Computerwoche.de - IBM stellt neue Informix-Version vor... Read 12 June 07 - IBM.de - IBM stärkt Datenbank-Portfolio mit neuem Informix Dynamic Server... Read 12 June 07 - Heise - IBM gibt Informix 11 frei... Read 25 May 07 - Taiwan.CNET.com - Local Taiwan Informix user group established... (Chinese language) ... Read 18 May 07 - ChannelWeb Network - IBM Musters Partners For Cheetah Release... Read 18 May 07 - eWeek.com - IBM Looks to 'Cheetah' to Speed Up Blade Servers... Read 7 May 07 - DB2 Magazine - SQL Shortcuts - Use these tricks to generate IDS SQL scripts... Read Previous news items

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Insider Profiles IIUG Director Stuart Litel

Q:	How do you use Informix in your "real" job (DBA, Consultant, Developer, etc.)?
A:	I am a freelance Informix consultant specializing in applications (4GL, 4Js) and DBA work (5.X, 7.X and 9.x) for about the last 12 years.

Q:	How long have you been using Informix products?
A:	TOOOOO LONG.... for almost 19 years I have been using Informix products, including doing the beta test on the Informix products that included the very first versions of the SQL products, 4GL, RDS, Interactive Debugger, and the original version of OnLine which was then called Turbo. I have been using their products almost every work day for the last 19 years.

Q:	What is your role on the IIUG Board?
A:	I am responsible for the IIUG Server and have been overseeing the server, including developing the Member Area and getting much of the content for it. I think there needs to be some "genuine Informix" material available to members only.

Q:	Why did you volunteer to be on the board?
A:	I actually enjoy it. The biggest reason is to meet and work with Informix users around the world. In fact, I possibly communicate with more Informix users on a regular basis than anyone else given my responsibilities running the IIUG Server and as webmaster of iiug.org. The part I actually enjoy is meeting the people personally, so if I travel I try to meet the people I might know in the area I'll visit. Over the past years I have met thousands of Informix users and communicate with many of them still today. Just a few weeks ago at Forum 2002 I ran into an Informix user I had not seen in about six years. Great talking about old times!

Q:	What do you want to accomplish this year on the Board?
A:	Stealing a line from Jerry Hamilton, to "Keep Informix Alive!" Informix database products were built with - for lack of a better term - "the need for speed". In addition to this, they are the most reliable database product on the market. Recently I was at a consulting assignment where I was training an individual who was the new DBA responsible for about ten different Informix servers running critical legal information. This person never used Informix, but had taken the Informix training classes and was thrown into the fire (a very hot fire). One of his first questions was "How do I install Informix?" We put the CD in the machine and had Informix up and running live in less than 10 minutes. Last week I was on the phone with an Informix customer who was complaining about their crashed Informix database. After spending time on the phone with them, I learned that they had done ZERO maintenance, other than backup, on their database for 2-1/2 years. That was ZERO time spent. No reboot of the server, no restart of Informix, nothing. How many other database products stay running for 2-1/2 years with no maintenance? I was sorry about their database crashing, but everyone must spend at least 10 minutes a month doing maintenance, right? No other database product can match this. The world never knew about capabilities like this. Maybe, just maybe I can help others see the real value in the product line. A big secret to all, is the database on the IIUG web site. Yes it runs IDS 7.31. In two plus years it has never had a problem and never crashed. What other computer products can you get that have never been down in over two and a half years. If running the IIUG Informix database was my full time job, I would be a very bored person, as it is like the Energizer Bunny, it keeps running and running and running...

Q:	Where are you from?
A:	Born and lived my entire life in the Boston, MA, home of the Super Bowl Champions, but also stuck with the heartache of the Boston Red Sox. Yes I am a big sports fan. I tell people I work 24 hours a day. This could be true as long as there is nothing to watch on TV in the Boston Sports land.

Q:	Best Informix story?
A:	How many days do you have... About two years back I got a call from a local dot.com who was sold on moving their data OUT of an Informix database into an Oracle database. After realizing that convincing them to stay with Informix was impossible, I took the assignment. After being there for a week I found out that these people never bought Informix software but found out they had just downloaded IDS 7.21 for NT from the Internet. Informix had found out and asked them to simply pay for it, after all they had just received $10 million in venture capital. Well, they decided to go to Oracle, as their local office was down the street, and approached Oracle with a deal. The proposed deal was: if they got rid of Informix as their database, Oracle have to give them the software for free. Oracle agreed. IDS was installed on a dual Pentium II - 400 Mhz box running NT. The Oracle database they were installing was going on a mid-range Sun box running UNIX. By all means, the Oracle should have blown the Informix away as the CPU was five times the power. One day I walked in and they were all running around in circles as they could not figure out why the Oracle database could not perform up to the standards of the Informix database which was never tuned, just loaded straight off the internet in a default configuration. Oracle sent over four technical people from their local office. They could not get the Oracle on a faster CPU to perform up to the same throughput as IDS. Well they were now stuck with their Oracle stuff and not only was performance terrible, but the system went down many times in the middle of the night. These people were a 24x7 dot.com, and, as the saying goes, your competition is only a click away. They found out as they went out of business three months later. Moral of the story, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Q:	Worst Informix nightmare.
A:	Seeing the current status of the product line. Many Informix customers think the product line will end and are jumping off the ship. What they do not realize is that the product is used in the daily activities of over 100,000 companies around the world. Products like that do not go away. If people believe it will happen, it will happen. If customers and users want to remain Informix users, they should. I have a constant saying: "No one ever bought an Informix product for the marketing. They bought it because it was the best technical product that met their needs". This is still true today, so I just cannot understand why users are jumping off the ship, instead of spreading the word and continue using the product they purchased for a technical reason as it was the best product out there and still is. Another saying I have is: "I have never met an X-customer of Informix products who now uses another database for TECHNICAL reasons." I remember 19 years ago where I was first exposed to Informix products, the company I was working at truly tested the Informix products vs. four other products. We decided on Informix SOLELY for technical reasons. I believe if this is still done today, Informix would be the largest used database product but, unfortunately, political and marketing reasons step in when the decision is made and get in the way of the technical people. I used to say that if technical people made the decision on which product to used, based solely on performance and reliability, they would almost always choose Informix.

Q:	Can you tell us about your family and hobbies outside of the IIUG?
A:	I am somewhat confused here. Do I have a life outside of work and the IIUG??? Currently single but dating a great person for many years. This person is not a technical individual but she has been to five Informix User Conferences and has to deal with the time I spend on and travel with the IIUG Board. And for some reason, she still talks to me. My hobbies and interest are basically sports related. Lately it seems to be playing golf and trying to break 100.

Published by IIUG Enews (Enews@IIUG.org), 27 November 2002.