Hashemian Blog Web Tools, Financial Markets, Technology Thursday, July 19, 2007 Ditch Your DBA Today?  I'm not sure about you, but this ad on a tech site sort of got under my skin. The company claims that this product obviates having a DBA (Database Administrator) managing your databases. As a sign of respect to all DBA's I obscured the company and their product name. Obviously the message is to get companies to buy this product and then save money by firing their DBA's. I hope no one is foolish enough to believe that they can simply replace their valuable personnel with a software program and expect things to hum along just the same. I'm only a marginal DBA where I work and we use Microsoft's SQL Server. For our purposes SQL Server has always been a reliable product and relatively easy to manage, but then we don’t deal with mountains of data like some other companies do. Any company that has to contend with gigabytes or terabytes of vital data should realize that a good DBA is worth his or her weight in gold. A well-trained and diligent DBA makes sure that databases have continuous uptime, manages security, disaster recovery, optimization, reliable connections and handles a slew of other tasks that software could never replace. As for smaller companies, a product such SQL Server comes bundled with enough tools and features that makes a product such as this one unnecessary. So if your company has never needed a DBA, don’t waste your time and money on a boastful product like this. You're doing just fine without introducing a new product into the mix. Otherwise don’t delude yourself with the idea that you can replace years of experience and training with hype. databases,dba,sql server Labels: databases, sql server <Ditch Your DBA Today?> // posted by rh 0 comments Saturday, April 14, 2007 Oracle #1 Ads  It may seem that way, I don’t mean to pick on Oracle, but lately I've seen a number of boastful ads from the database and CRM giant in various media that makes me a bit wary of this company. Gloating in ads is nothing new. Politicians do it all the time and so do many other companies. Oracle and other companies in their field have been engaged in negative advertising for quite some time, but recently Oracle ads have had nothing to say other than bashing their competitors. There's nothing wrong with that, but I wonder if the exposure gained is the type that this company really wants. I, for one, am not a big fan of braggers, specially if that's what all a company does to promote itself and its products. In my mind that actually lowers a company's stature and makes me more cynical of their operations. Take a look at the first ad. It was on the back cover of a recent issue of Computerworld, a popular trade publication in the IT management industry. I understand what this ad is trying to convey, but then there's more than one way to read it. So Oracle revenues beat those of their competitors, but that also means that more money was invested in non-Oracle databases. It could also mean that Oracle is overcharging its customers for its products and services. Why don’t these customers switch to cheaper alternatives? Perhaps Oracle products are so entrenched in their operations that they don't dare extricate them. In other words, some may just be hostages to Oracle's tactics. Yet still this ad is totally useless in comparing the installation bases. I have a hunch that MySQL (a generally free and popular database product) by itself has a much wider number of installs than that of Oracle database. But that message is lost on the casual viewer who only sees the #1 claim printed in a super-sized font and the supporting pie chart below that. The second image is a partial snapshot taken from Oracle's homepage that was running until recently. Again, I can understand that Oracle is touting its earnings momentum, but what's all this competition bashing? A casual browser would have no idea how Oracle arrived at the conclusion that its earnings grew 5 or 6 times faster than those of its competitors. Oracle has swallowed up a lot of companies recently, so their comparison methodology may not be as straightforward as it seems. In other words it could be all smoke and mirrors and not based on an apples-to-apples comparison. And still, it could again mean that they are more successful at overcharging their customers. Oracle's blustering and showboating might please their shareholders who are interested in the bottom line, but as far as attracting new customers, perhaps it's time to cut back on bashing competition and focusing on the strengths and merits of their own products. Otherwise they might as well also brag about being #1 in their number of ads about being #1. Oracle,advertising,databases,mysql,sap,sql server,bea,negative ads Labels: advertising, databases, mysql, oracle, sql server <Oracle #1 Ads> // posted by rh 1 comments Sunday, April 01, 2007 Oracle's SAP Lawsuit  Consider this as another escalation of hostilities between the two ERP titans, Oracle and SAP. About 10 days ago Oracle filed a lawsuit accusing SAP of stealing internal tech support documents used by Oracle's clients. The story as is unfolding details how TomorrowNow, a SAP's subsidiary, logged into accounts designated for some of Oracle's large customers and downloaded thousands of technical documents relating to Oracle products. TomorrowNow is a support outfit that offers maintenance contracts to Oracle's customers at competitive prices to Oracle. Oracle maintains that it has irrefutable proof in the form of IP addresses and account logins that shows TomorrowNow as the originating traffic responsible for downloading those documents. Maintenance contracts are big business for the likes of Oracle and SAP who derive a substantial portion of their revenues from them. And since support contracts are very high-margin, they have considerable influence on the companies' bottom lines. Those contracts not only siphon support money away from Oracle, but they could also eventually steer the vendors away from Oracle's products and towards SAP's products. It is no wonder that Oracle was spooked over the downloads. The question is whether Oracle's suit is a justified one. Oracle has been engaged in quite a buying binge in the last few years. Notable companies snapped up by Oracle include PeopleSoft, Siebel Systems, and most recently, Hyperion solutions. The acquired outfits have been part of the Oracle's master plan to transform itself from a database company into a giant entity in the analytics, CRM, and business management fields. So far the plan has worked out quite well for Oracle and in the process it has made some of the most renowned companies in these areas very nervous. These include Microsoft, IBM, and SAP, to name a few. Even Google hasn't been immune to Oracle's cross-hairs. Recent Oracle ads tout its search products for internal documents as superior to those offered by the search giant. SAP, for its part, has promised a vigorous defense against what it claims to be an essentially frivolous and vindictive lawsuit by Oracle. Indeed on the surface Oracle's claim does not seem to have much merit. I don’t see anything wrong with a company competing with Oracle to provide product support for Oracle's vendors. If a friend asked me for technical support on a Microsoft product and in the process gave me his support login account so I can view or download relevant documentation from Microsoft's site, I can hardly view that as stealing documents. The fact that Microsoft might lose support dollars in the process might make the company justifiably upset, but that justification shouldn't extend to suing me for damages, even if I recommended a better product to my friend in the end. In the final analysis, this lawsuit is about sour grapes. Given Oracle's paranoia about its competitors' uneasiness stemming from its acquisition-fueled growth, this is likely only the beginning of its penchant for litigation. If a company like SAP wanted to engage in illicit activity, it would have had the wisdom not to use its own computers to achieve its goals. Hopefully the justice system will see this lawsuit as an anti-competitive move by Oracle to fortify its position through intimidation. oracle,sap,crm,erp,tomorrownow,peoplesoft,hyperion Labels: databases <Oracle's SAP Lawsuit> // posted by rh 4 comments

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