IBM PLEDGES SUPPORT FOR INFORMIX
by Matt Hicks, eWEEK

IBM reaffirmed its commitment to continue to support the database products of Informix following the planned $1 billion acquisition of its one-time rival.

"There will be no forced migration to DB2," said Janet Perna, IBM general manager of Data Management Solutions, referring to the Armonk, N.Y., company's flagship database software.

Perna's comments came at the end of a keynote speech during Giga Information Group Inc's GigaWorld IT Forum. In an earlier interview with eWEEK, Perna said that development would continue on both lines of products following the acquisition, planned for the third quarter, but that the long-term vision is to integrate key features from Informix products to further bolster the functionality of DB2. Already, the acquisition would double the number of DB2 users on Unix, helping IBM further bolster its database share on non-mainframe systems.

Perna visited with Informix developers in Kansas City to discuss future product releases. Plans are continuing, for instance, for a new release of Informix Dynamic Server this summer that is currently in beta testing, Perna said. Such upgrades will continue on Informix products for as long as customers demand them, whether a couple years or 10 years, she said.

IBM, though, already is considering ways to build Informix technologies into DB2, in particular Informix's DataBlades data integration modules and its Red Brick analytical engine. Informix's Arrowhead initiative to combine its database products, however, won't continue, with DB2 instead becoming the unified platform, Perna said.

"The goal is to take key technologies from Informix, integrate them into DB2 and therefore make DB2 the hands-down favorite for new applications. It's not about migrating," Perna said.

An eye on Oracle

That doesn't mean IBM isn't considering the potential for an increased base of DB2 users to arise from the 100,000 customers it will gain from Informix. Even before the acquisition, IBM, No. 2 in the database market, was in a pitched battle with Oracle Corp, the database leader. Oracle has even begun a campaign to get Informix customers to switch, but Perna said she's not worried.

"What makes Oracle think that they have any better chance of having an Informix customer go to them today than they had over the last six months, or the last year or the last two years?" Perna asked.

Already, Informix customers looking to switch are about evenly split between Oracle and IBM, she said. With IBM's purchase, she expects the battle to tilt DB2's way. Not only are the underpinnings of IBM's and Informix's database products similar, but the two companies followed a similar model of partnering with ISVs (Independent Software Vendors) without having applications that compete with the software vendors' own products, Perna said.

Oracle, on the other hand, has a range of ERP and CRM applications that compete with the same vendors' products that run atop its databases. Its strategy has been to offer customers its own tightly integrated set of software.

The IBM-Informix combination will strengthen many common ISV partnerships, but also bring IBM new partnerships, particularly in vertical industries such as telecommunications and retailing, Perna said.