XPost: comp.databases.informix, comp.databases, comp.databases.ibm-db2   
   From: obnoxio@hotmail.com   
      
   DBA wrote:   
      
   > You can't compare choosing IBM vs. choosing Informix. IBM is not likely to   
   > go out of business or be taken over by another company. The market share   
   > #'s are much closer than you indicate.   
      
   Not in the UK they're not.   
      
   However, I would like to point out that a lot of people *did* choose   
   Informix over DB2, and they typically did this for several reasons:   
      
   1. They preferred the technology.   
   2. They preferred dealing with a company where they were considered   
   important, rather than a company where customers and their wants get in the   
   way of a process.   
   3. They bought into a vision that the database was a differentiating product   
   and not a commodity.   
   4. Etc.   
      
   They did all this despite the fact that Informix's market share had eroded   
   over the years.   
      
   The car analogy doesn't really work in this case, because there are other   
   factors that influence a car purchase. I, for example, drive a very large   
   BMW because I have a very small willy. Market share played no part in my   
   decision, only the desire for a large, throbbing, thrusting ... car. Ahem.   
   No database vendor markets to that sector of the market, AFAIK. (Although I   
   haven't been playing close attention to Oracle's marketing lately, to be   
   fair, they have probably got this base covered too.)   
      
   However, market share *is* important for ISVs and third party developers --   
   they are reluctant to develop on and support a platform that doesn't give   
   them broad exposure to the market. Conversely, this affects your decision   
   because it means that you have access to more applications and resources   
   with a product that owns a bigger market share. (This argument falls down   
   if you have a niche requirement that can only be satisfied by one product   
   of course! :o)   
      
   Informix was hugely popular in the ISV space despite a less than massive   
   market share, because they made it easy to do business with them, something   
   I've found can only be said about IBM with your fingers crossed behind your   
   back.   
      
   --   
   "C'est pas parce qu'on n'a rien à dire qu'il faut fermer sa gueule"   
   - Coluche   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)