IIUG E-News, September 2000

International Informix Users Group (IIUG)
www.iiug.org
E-newsletter
Volume 2 – September, 2000

SUMMARY

Here is a summary of the major topics in this newsletter:

I. LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT: New President, Missions, Changes
II. IIUG NEWS AND EVENTS: User conference, Webcasts, Board Elections.
III. INFORMIX NEWS AND EVENTS: New Informix, Classic Products
IV. CLOSING: Summary of the newsletter, request for feedback.

You can update your IIUG information online at www.iiug.org/cgi-bin/update_member.cgi

I. LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

My name is Sudhir Nair; I serve on the current Board of Directors for the International Informix Users Group (IIUG). Because former president Shawn Dagg has taken a position at Informix, the Board of Directors has elected me to take the Presidential reins, which I started on Sept 1, 2000. I have served the Board of IIUG for a year now and have been involved with Informix for about 8 years.

I am sure all of you are aware of the recent developments and resulting changes at Informix (see article below), I will soon be meeting with the management team of Peter Gyenes, Jim Foy and Peter Fiore to discuss these changes and also to further strengthen the relationship between Informix and the IIUG.

The last year has been very good for the IIUG. We accomplished a great deal in terms of bringing the Informix community together into a strong and unified society. Our biggest recent success is the upcoming Informix User Conference in Orlando, Florida, USA. The IIUG played a very strategic and key role in planning and executing this user conference. Other major achievements include the E-Newsletter you are currently reading as well as the training and product informational Webcasts, which began this summer. The IIUG continues to utilize emerging technologies to better communicate with our membership and Informix.

The Informix User Conference in Orlando is getting close. In order for us to completely succeed, we ask that you – our members – continue supporting us. I personally request all of you to take the time to attend an Informix User Conference in your geographic region. (Note that the conferences in Europe and Asia-PAC are postponed. You might consider attending the Florida conference.) IIUG will continue to play a strategic role in building the IUC’s content to suit the needs of the users.

Last but not least, the election is here for the IIUG Board of Directors for 2000-2001! This year I am glad to announce that we have 17 nominees for the Board. We have 12 positions on the board, 11 of which will be elected; the 12th one will be an Informix representative. The IIUG election committee will be conducting an electronic election on the our Web site, beginning the last week of September and concluding on about October 14. Details can be found below or at www.iiug.org/about/elections/electionstart.html. Be sure to select the right candidates to represent you on the IIUG board.

Good luck to all of you and we hope to see you all in Orlando!

Yours truly,

Sudhir P. Nair
President, IIUG

Return to the top

II. IIUG NEWS AND EVENTS

This section provides news and information about the International Informix Users Group.

IMPORTANT: The Informix User Conferences in Paris and Singapore, originally scheduled for 2001, have been postponed until the Informix reorganization is complete. We encourage you to visit the Orlando conference, which will provide complete details about the new Informix corporations. Watch www.informix.com/iuc for the latest information and discounts!

We’re less than three weeks away from IUC 2000 in Orlando, Florida, USA, the home of Disney World! While IIUG won’t sponsor conference tracks as it did in past years, we have worked diligently with Informix to influence the content. Product mapping sessions are now part of the program, as are the now traditional Ask The Expert sessions. Our objective is for every attendee to return home with a better knowledge of how to extract value from Informix products and solutions. We also plan to have fun and visit with the folks from all over the globe who anchor our Informix community of users.

DATES:
Informix Partner Forum: October 23-25
Informix User Conference: October 25-28

LOCATION:
Orange County Convention Center
Orlando, Florida, USA

LATEST INFORMATION:
www.informix.com/iuc

IIUG EVENTS:

Here is a short description of key IIUG events at IUC 2000:

  • Tuesday AM: IIUG Board Meeting
  • Tuesday PM: IUGLC Meeting
  • Wednesday: Tutorials and Partner Forum Begin
  • Wednesday PM: IIUG Welcome Reception
  • Thursday: Exhibits Open
  • Thursday PM: Meet the Developer
  • Friday PM: Annual General Meeting

IIUG will also have a booth in the exhibit floor where you will be able to visit with IIUG leaders and tell us how we can better serve the user community. We are looking forward to greeting every IIUG member who attends IUC 2000. See you in Orlando!!!

This conference will answer your questions about the new Informix corporations and will provide a roadmap to the future. Here are the details:

DETAILS:

“The Way to the Future!”

What IS the way to the future for Informix? It’s the convergence of content, web, e-commerce, infrastructure technology, wireless, and business intelligence. The IIUG is proud to join Informix in announcing the Informix User Conference/Partner Forum 2000!

It’s also about the new Informix. After Informix’s recent announcement that they would split into two independently operating companies (databases and solutions), there are many questions about the future. These questions will all be answered and Informix will explain its future.

The conference includes the following:

  • Information about the new Informix corporations
  • Several important keynote addresses
  • Presentations
  • Detailed technical tutorials
  • Comprehensive Training Sessions
  • New Product Information
  • Hands-on workshops

WAY TO PARTNER!

And while you’re at it… the conference also include the Informix Partner Forum!

www.informix.com/alliance/partnerforum

Informix Partners… Come early and get the inside information you need for your business! Find out how to make optimal use of a partner relationship with Informix. Hear about our latest offerings, take advantage of valuable networking opportunities, and find out how the new Informix corporations can help you. Don’t forget about the Partner Information Exchange on October 25 from 4-6 PM. It’s all about The Way to Partner!

WEBCAST AND EDUCATIONCAST SERIES

We are excited to launch our widely-requested WebCast and EducationCast Series. The monthly series, sponsored by the IIUG, brings the latest technical insight on Informix Solutions to the user community.

The WebCasts and Educasts will help you understand new technologies and give you what you need to be successful as a developer or administrator of Informix technology. For more information go to www.iiug.org/resources/webcasts.html

IIUG BOARD ELECTIONS

It’s time to elect a new IIUG board of directors. The elections will take place ONLINE between Sept 25th and Oct 13th, 2000. Results will be announced at IIUG AGM (Annual General Meeting) at IUC on Thursday, October 27, 2000, between 5:30 and 6:30 P.M. Here are some links:

Starting page:
www.iiug.org/about/elections/electionstart.html
Nominee’s biographies:
www.iiug.org/about/elections/bio.html
Voting:
www.iiug.org/about/elections/vote.html

Please the IIUG Events web page at: www.iiug.org

To list your local event in this newsletter or on the IIUG web site, please send your event information to ug@iiug.org

Return to the top

III. INFORMIX NEWS

This section provides news and information about Informix.

THE NEW INFORMIX CORPORATIONS: WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Wow! I thought I was shocked when Jean-Yves Dexmier left and Peter Gyenes consolidated the five business groups into two. Since then, Gyenes has driven lots of changes at Informix. This restructuring is a MAJOR change for Informix and it means a lot to its devotees. I’m currently putting together a detailed analysis of the restructuring, including information about the changes as well as interviews with employees, executives and users. It will be published on the “Pulse” section of www.informixhandbook.com. Please provide your feedback now so we can take the “pulse” on your feelings: Send an email to mailto:pulse@informixhandbook.com.

Here is a quick summary of changes:

CLASSIC PRODUCTS: HERE TO STAY!

(This section includes outtakes from a detailed article that can be found on www.informixhandbook.com by clicking on “Interview: Informix Product Direction.)

Recently I’ve been hearing some very disturbing comments – observations that “Informix has turned itself into an all-Internet company” or “Informix has forgotten about its core products” or “Informix only cares about its big customers.” If these things are true, it is a matter of huge concern to me, so I decided to investigate.

To find out about the future of some of the older Informix products, I spoke with Meg Hilbert, former Director of Product Management for classic products. (Since the interview, Meg has moved to a new position within Informix.)

Most of my interview with Meg was conducted before the recent appointment of Peter Gyenes as Informix CEO. Meg’s comments reflected Informix’s direction at the time if the interview. The information that she described may be changed or enhanced as a result of Peter Gyenes’ influence or because of the restructuring of Informix. In any case, be sure to watch www.informix.com, www.informixhandbook.com, or the IIUG’s E-newsletter for updated information.

The following are new products supported by the group:

  • NAG Financial DataBlade, MaxConnect (client/server connection caching), DBD PERL

The following “classic” products will still be supported for the foreseeable future:

  • INFORMIX-SE, C-ISAM, Online 5.1x and above, IDS 7.31 and above, C-ISAM DataBlade, gateway products, Client-SDK, ESQL/C, 4GL, ISQL, Visionary

Extensive details on the status of the products above are found with the detailed interview at www.informixhandbook.com. Below is a brief outtake from the interview:

RON: What is Informix’s commitment to ongoing support for small customers and customers with classic products?

MEG: We use the Product Life Cycle policy and Maintenance Delivery policy to manage our classic products. We make no distinction as to whether or not a customer is small or large, but we really have to look at what makes sense for both the customer base and our business.

My group is responsible for continuing the product lines as long as It makes sense to do so. When we feel that a product family has reached the end of its life, we look for migration programs to advance our customers’ technology – hopefully without jeopardizing the original reason they bought the product.

RON: Can you give me an example?

MEG: For example, take OnLine 5.10. Why did customers buy it and why are they still using it? Mostly they saw it has an opportunity to increase the speed and productivity of their environment offering a few more bells and whistles than SE, but not as demanding as IDS 7.x which requires more tuning and more administration. And it is quite a stable environment for them now. So, if we had a product that could still offer what OnLine 5.1x customers have without jeopardizing the integrity of what they are doing, and it makes good business sense for all of us, then we will offer a plan to help customers get to the newer products as efficiently as possible.

The other key point is that we try not to “end of line” a product unless there is an upgrade or migration path available. There may be exceptions to that rule, especially if the product wasn’t successful in the first place. So for products like Online 5.1, even though we aren’t discontinuing it, we have provided a strong upgrade path with 7.31x, and now 9.x

.

Return to the top

IV. CLOSING

The International Informix Users Group (IIUG) is an international organization that is designed to enhance communications between Informix and its worldwide user community. The IIUG now has over 10,000 members and receives major support from Informix. We also help local user groups get started and promote their groups. We help the user community understand the major changes to Informix. Please provide your feedback and help us make Informix the best it can be! You can send an email to ug@iiug.org or visit our site at www.iiug.org.

If you do not wish to receive future editions, send an email to ug@iiug.org with the words “UNSUBSCRIBE enews” in the text of the message. To delete your record from the IIUG database, send an email to ug@iiug.org with the words “DELETE iiug-membership” in the text of the message.

Sources: IIUG Board of Directors, Sudhir Nair

Editor: Ron Flannery, Informix Handbook, One Point Solutions and IIUG Board

Content Editor: Rob Vorbroker, Vorbroker Consulting and IIUG Board

Other contributors: Fred Hubbard, Rob Vorbroker, Meg Hilbert, Dawn McGuire

Contact: ug@iiug.org or Dawn McGuire at 650.926.6762

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.