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Database Forum / Informix Topics / July 2008From the IIUG Insider ...
Inside IBM's Informix Marketing Strategy By Inhi Cho Vice President Data Management Marketing During the last few months, I have had the pleasure of meeting with many members of the IIUG community and observing first-hand the legendary enthusiasm of Informix users. I appreciate this opportunity to share some thoughts about Informix's marketing strategy, and I invite your feedback. Informix Dynamic Server continues to be a major focus of the IBM Data Management portfolio and IBM's Information On Demand strategy. You know and love Informix Dynamic Server because you can set it and forget it. It's the server of choice for high-volume transactions. In the latest release, you have even more options for data availability and you have the option to scale up your systems with lower-cost hardware without adding significant administration costs. The remote administration features grant DBAs the ability to manage their Informix installations from anywhere in the world. Our marketing approach is powerfully simple, just like IDS! IDS is optimized for easy administration and high availability for transaction-intensive solutions. We're making these benefits known worldwide though an integrated approach that brings together IBM customers, partners and thought leaders. The IIUG community is a vital part of our approach. Here are just a few examples: Increasing global awareness Online Web ads are running on more than 20 IT sites including CNET, InformationWeek and Computerworld. Compelling, relevant access to thought leaders: Chat with the Labs programs We're delivering popular quarterly webcasts with topics that reach new customers and help keep the existing Informix community up-to-date on developments. Market-leading product releases The recent IDS 11.5 launch press release attracted the attention of about 35 news and Internet venues and the attention of key industry analysts. The release also included support for Apple developers on the Mac platform. Investments in learning and education We continue to invest in the production and distribution of Informix materials, such as the IDS 11 and 11.5 books and Discovery DVDs. The benefits of IDS are spread through a number of IBM and third-party events, including the very successful IIUG conference. We are committed to continuing the phenomenal growth of Informix. In today's world, success depends on the strength and sharing in communities-IDS users come together in new ways everyday. From new application areas, such as the Mac platform, to academic initiatives for IDS worldwide, interest and commitment to Informix grows daily. And we continue to work with our colleagues across IBM and an increasing list of business partners to expand the significant portfolio of software that works with IDS. The momentum continues with 150 new Informix business partnerships since 2007, all providing an even richer ecosystem of IDS-based applications and education and integration services. The IIUG community is a fantastic partner in propelling IDS growth. The best marketing is word of mouth from loyal users like the IIUG members. We are proud of our partnership with IIUG and we're just getting started! We count on IIUG to help us get the latest information out to the Informix community through this newsletter, the Web site and the many user group events and activities. We have a number of events and activities coming up where we hope to see you and your colleagues, including the Information On Demand Conference in Las Vegas from Oct. 26-31. There will be a strong Informix program, and it will be a great opportunity to meet with IBM and Informix technical leaders. You will also be able to participate in many hands-on labs and sessions all week devoted just to Informix. In addition, IDS will be included in many other sessions, demos and activities so you can discover the many ways Informix works with other hardware and software products across the IBM portfolio. This is an exciting time for Informix and its customers. New ideas and improvements come from many sources so please let us know your thoughts and how we can help. I'm going to top post because the good ol' Captain cut n pasted the entire 'article'. Unfortunately, a simple cut n paste without comments is like getting a pint of your favorite beer/ale and only getting a glass full of foam without the beverage. ;-) So I'm going to comment. I get the CMP publications. (Information Week, CRN, etc ...) (Yeah, I fill out their never ending surveys that repeatedly ask me the same questions endlessly.) I have received the "IBM" inserts. I'm sure others have too. As to their IDS content and focus, very limited. IBM still lacks a coherent and cohesive strategy when it comes to combining and positioning all of their products. Sorry, that's a sad truth. Now you may ask why that's important, its because it lays a foundation to the sales team and the customers to understand why IBM and what it has to offer. Its a simple thing, but if done, would explain IBM's overall vision and plan for their IM division. It will also help the sales team show a better value proposition of their products. So I have to ask "Where's the beef?" Where's the effective marketing stuff? If IBM were to focus back on basics, they would have an easier time of getting the message out. -G PS. I've never seen an IDS ad on CNET, has anyone? > From: theharlequin36@hotmail.com > Subject: From the IIUG Insider ... [quoted text clipped - 84 lines] > Informix-list@iiug.org > http://www.iiug.org/mailman/listinfo/informix-list _________________________________________________________________ The i’m Talkathon starts 6/24/08. For now, give amongst yourselves. http://www.imtalkathon.com?source=TXT_EML_WLH_LearnMore_GiveAmongst I have repeatedly seen Cheetah 2 ads on "heise ticker": www.heise.de in the past couple of weeks. In the German speaking IT realm this website has by far the biggest reach (kind of like slashdot ...) Cheers Serge  SignatureSerge Rielau DB2 Solutions Development IBM Toronto Lab That´s right, heise ticker is more known then slashdot over here in Germany. What I still miss are press releases by IBM in the text part of heise ticker surrounding the IBM ads :-) I only remember some articles Eric Herber wrote for heise publications (c´t and ix). May be the next one is his press release for his Infomix Book (Eric: I ordered two books, and I am waiting...) That is the big part missing from IBM, I don´t think anybody outside IBM / Informix is able to tell you what INFORMIX is and what Informix is doing, except from what can be read in the ad itself (database 24/7). So the ad is nice, beautiful to look at, but you can't remember any facts that make you buy INFORMIX except that INFORMIX is one more database with 24/7 on the market. regards, Joerg Volz ________________________________ Von: informix-list-bounces@iiug.org im Auftrag von Serge Rielau Gesendet: Mo 30.06.2008 14:39 An: informix-list@iiug.org Betreff: Re: From the IIUG Insider ... I have repeatedly seen Cheetah 2 ads on "heise ticker": www.heise.de in the past couple of weeks. In the German speaking IT realm this website has by far the biggest reach (kind of like slashdot ...) Cheers Serge -- Serge Rielau DB2 Solutions Development IBM Toronto Lab _______________________________________________ Informix-list mailing list Informix-list@iiug.org http://www.iiug.org/mailman/listinfo/informix-list IT Handel und Beratung Jörg Volz Bernhard-Früh-Str. 7 77855 Achern GERMANY Tel: 07841-681651 Fax: 07841-681654 Mobil: 0170-2989757 Ust-ID: DE201383541 http://www.it-volz.de > That´s right, > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > (c´t and ix). May be the next one is his press release for his Infomix > Book (Eric: I ordered two books, and I am waiting...) Here is a quick search for Informix just on the ticker. Not too shabby: # IBM schaltet den Datenbank-Turbo ein (03.06.2008, hos) IBMs neue Datenbank-Engine solidDB soll Abfragen bis zu zehnmal schneller beantworten als herkömmliche Datenbanken. # IBM veröffentlicht Informix 11.5 (28.04.2008, ck) IBMS Informix Dynamic Server 11.5 bringt vor allem Verbesserungen im Cluster-Betrieb und soll den Abstand zu Oracle 11g verringern. # Informix demnächst auch für Mac OS X (22.01.2008, ck) Ab der nächsten Release wird Informix nicht nur für Windows, Unix und Linux sondern auch für Mac OS X verfügbar sein. # Kostenfreie Variante von Informix 11 (12.11.2007, ck) Einige Monate nach dem Erscheinen von Informix 11 bietet IBM jetzt eine kostenfreie Version für Entwickler an. Sie bietet dieselben Funktionen wie die Enterprise Edition, ist jedoch hinsichtlich CPU-, Platten- und Speichernutzung begrenzt. # IBM gibt Informix 11 frei (12.06.2007, ck) In Informix 11 führt IBM unter anderem Cluster-Konzepte und eine feinkörnige Rechteverwaltung ein. # IBM bringt Linux-Datenbank-Angebot (19.02.2007, akl) IBM will die neue Version seines Informix Dynamic Server gebündelt mit Novells Suse Linux Enterprise Server anbieten. # Informix 11 als Beta-Version erhältlich (15.02.2007, ck) IBM stellt eine Beta-Version seines Informix Dynamic Server 11 zum Testen bereit. Die endgültige Version soll noch in diesem Jahr erhältlich sein. SignatureSerge Rielau DB2 Solutions Development IBM Toronto Lab yeah, do a search for results over all the years. Informix: 47 Oracle: 1127 MySQL: 347 Microsoft SQL Server: 206 Postgres: 5 Ok, a lot of the Oracle stuff and so on is about errors, patches etc etc... But People often remember "Oracle..." no matter what the context was. There is a saying in Germany: "Horse droppings must be good, millions of flies can´t be wrong!" Not that I want to read about IDS only with patches, huge errors, security stuff and so on. ;-) Like a Joerg Volz ________________________________ Von: informix-list-bounces@iiug.org im Auftrag von Serge Rielau Gesendet: Mo 30.06.2008 15:22 An: informix-list@iiug.org Betreff: Re: AW: From the IIUG Insider ... Jörg Volz wrote: > That´s right, > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > (c´t and ix). May be the next one is his press release for his Infomix > Book (Eric: I ordered two books, and I am waiting...) Here is a quick search for Informix just on the ticker. Not too shabby: # IBM schaltet den Datenbank-Turbo ein (03.06.2008, hos) IBMs neue Datenbank-Engine solidDB soll Abfragen bis zu zehnmal schneller beantworten als herkömmliche Datenbanken. # IBM veröffentlicht Informix 11.5 (28.04.2008, ck) IBMS Informix Dynamic Server 11.5 bringt vor allem Verbesserungen im Cluster-Betrieb und soll den Abstand zu Oracle 11g verringern. # Informix demnächst auch für Mac OS X (22.01.2008, ck) Ab der nächsten Release wird Informix nicht nur für Windows, Unix und Linux sondern auch für Mac OS X verfügbar sein. # Kostenfreie Variante von Informix 11 (12.11.2007, ck) Einige Monate nach dem Erscheinen von Informix 11 bietet IBM jetzt eine kostenfreie Version für Entwickler an. Sie bietet dieselben Funktionen wie die Enterprise Edition, ist jedoch hinsichtlich CPU-, Platten- und Speichernutzung begrenzt. # IBM gibt Informix 11 frei (12.06.2007, ck) In Informix 11 führt IBM unter anderem Cluster-Konzepte und eine feinkörnige Rechteverwaltung ein. # IBM bringt Linux-Datenbank-Angebot (19.02.2007, akl) IBM will die neue Version seines Informix Dynamic Server gebündelt mit Novells Suse Linux Enterprise Server anbieten. # Informix 11 als Beta-Version erhältlich (15.02.2007, ck) IBM stellt eine Beta-Version seines Informix Dynamic Server 11 zum Testen bereit. Die endgültige Version soll noch in diesem Jahr erhältlich sein. -- Serge Rielau DB2 Solutions Development IBM Toronto Lab _______________________________________________ Informix-list mailing list Informix-list@iiug.org http://www.iiug.org/mailman/listinfo/informix-list IT Handel und Beratung Jörg Volz Bernhard-Früh-Str. 7 77855 Achern GERMANY Tel: 07841-681651 Fax: 07841-681654 Mobil: 0170-2989757 Ust-ID: DE201383541 http://www.it-volz.de > yeah, do a search for results over all the years. > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > Not that I want to read about IDS only with patches, huge errors, > security stuff and so on. ;-) It's also the company name, so Larry's racing results are covered as well as apps, middleware, SAP lawsuit. Peoplesoft poison pills.. 4970 on IBM... ;-) Cheers Serge SignatureSerge Rielau DB2 Solutions Development IBM Toronto Lab Re: AW: From the IIUG Insider ...>> There is a saying in Germany: "Horse droppings must be good, millions of flies can´t be wrong!" That's a good one; I must remember it! Who said that the German sense of humour begins and ends at "Der 90. Geburtstag" ...? ;-) > I only remember some articles Eric Herber wrote for heise publications (c´t and ix). May be the next one is his press release for his Infomix Book (Eric: I ordered two books, and I am waiting...) The book is a little bit delayed, but should be available during the next two months. Thank you for ordering two pieces ! There will be soon an article published about IDS 11.5 in a special database edition of the german 'Linux Magazin' . I will keep you informed thru informix-zone.com as soon as it is printed. Don't know if you seen it, there is a new Informix article online at the DBTA magazine: http://www.dbta.com/e-edition/June08/5-contributed_article_45.html Regarding the subject of this thread 'Inside IBM's Informix Marketing Strategy' written by Inhi Cho I will better keep quiet, otherwise probably nobody from IBM wants to speak to me anymore :-) Obviously you heard your own words and said, "Serge you are an a.s, but post this anyway, good for germans and nobody else...illogical and stunted in intelligence as it is I will post it anyway... here goes!". > I have repeatedly seen Cheetah 2 ads on "heise ticker": www.heise.de in > the past couple of weeks. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > Cheers > Serge > Obviously you heard your own words and said, "Serge you are an a.s, but > post this anyway, good for germans and nobody else...illogical and > stunted in intelligence as it is I will post it anyway... here goes!". Well, I'm glad you got that of your chest. Cheers Serge SignatureSerge Rielau DB2 Solutions Development IBM Toronto Lab Where was this posted or printed? > Inside IBM's Informix Marketing Strategy > By Inhi Cho [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > Our marketing approach is powerfully simple, just like IDS! MUST BE A SECRET FORMULA. > IDS is optimized for easy administration and high availability for > transaction-intensive solutions. We're making these benefits known worldwide [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > 2007, all providing an even richer ecosystem of IDS-based applications and > education and integration services. REALLY? WHO? > The IIUG community is a fantastic partner in propelling IDS growth. The best > marketing is word of mouth from loyal users like the IIUG members. We are WRONG. The best marketing is to advertise and have a developer program. The engine needs to be full production quality, nothing crippled, and the time bomb removed. NOBODY KNOWS ABOUT YOUR GODDAM DATABASE. WITHOUT DEVELOPERS YOU DO NOT MOVE PRODUCT. So what you have a whopping total of 150 new partners. Can you deal with all of that, wow. > proud of our partnership with IIUG and we're just getting started! We count > on IIUG to help us get the latest information out to the Informix community > through this newsletter, the Web site and the many user group events and > activities. TRANSLATION: WE DONT HAVE A f.cking CLUE HOW TO MARKET THE PRODUCT SO WE WILL GET EXISTING USERS TO DO OUR JOB FOR US. MANY OF THEM ARE SO TECHNICALLY MINDED THEY DON'T SEE THE BIGGER PICTURE, SO THEY THINK EVERYTHING IS OK, DESPITE THE FACT THAT THERE ARE HARDLY ANY CUSTOMERS LOOKING FOR PEOPLE TO SUPPORT THIS MYSTERIOUSLY UNKNOWN DATABASE. > We have a number of events and activities coming up where we hope to see you > and your colleagues, including the Information On Demand Conference in Las [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > improvements come from many sources so please let us know your thoughts and > how we can help. REALLY? IF THERE AREN'T ANY CUSTOMERS BESIDES WALMART, WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS? WHY WOULD I WASTE MY TIME WITH THE PRODUCT IF NOBODY OUT THERE IS USING IT BESIDES ONE BIG CUSTOMER? INFORMIX :: THE DATABASE WITH INVISIBILITY PERMANENTLY BUILT IN. > Where was this posted or printed? > >> Inside IBM's Informix Marketing Strategy >> By Inhi Cho In the IIUG Insider, which gets emailed to each IIUG member every two months or so. Also it's available here: http://www.iiug.org/Insider/insider_jun08.php [SNIP] > REALLY? IF THERE AREN'T ANY CUSTOMERS BESIDES WALMART, WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS? > WHY WOULD I WASTE MY TIME WITH THE PRODUCT IF NOBODY OUT THERE IS USING IT > BESIDES ONE BIG CUSTOMER? > > INFORMIX :: THE DATABASE WITH INVISIBILITY PERMANENTLY BUILT IN. InDeep, Do you know why IBM sings the praises of IDS? Its simple really. Its an organization where the members volunteer to work on a grass roots marketing campaign with little or no help from IBM. If you look at the numbers from the cost of the IIUG's conference, and the number of people "touched", IBM got bigger return for what they spent than for a "brand" advertisement in a single ad. Congrat's on the IIUG, and Eric's site for being the marketing arm of IDS. Oh TANSAAFL applies and some of the board member along with Eric et al, do what they do because of their own self interest. (And there's nothing wrong with that). But unfortunately, the community is small enough and they're not out there creating the buzz that one would expect from a "web 2.0" company. IBM doesn't want to invest their time/money/equipment in creating that. Because of this, those large clients that see value in IDS will continue to use IDS and its to their advantage in keeping quiet. To your point about a developer's program, its a loss leader. In order to promote the program, you need to promote it across the board of SWG and you need to have evangelists who can talk about using IBM's products to architect a solution. Evangelists cost money, more money that they want to spend or have buget for. HINT: I know of a way of solving this problem. But again, you'd have to fight silo politics. Of course the bigger question... "Why should Senior IM execs spend more money when they don't have to? I mean after all, look at IDS's growth curve. As long as its growing, they're making money and hitting their projected sales targets, who cares?" "Don't rock the boat as long as you're successful and you're getting your ticket punched..." BTW, getting your ticket punched is a military expression. I'll leave it to the ex-military types here to explain it to you civilian folks. ;-) But hey! What do I know? Hmmm maybe enough to fill a book ? ;-) -G > [SNIP] > Oh TANSAAFL applies and some of the board member along with Eric et > al, do what they do because of their own self interest. (And there's > nothing wrong with that). I guess you mean TANSTAAFL - There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch," I sat on the IIUG Board for 2.5 years from September 2002 and it did absolutely Sweet FA for my self-interest - excpet in the sense that i like to "Put a little back". If anything my business suffered through the quarterly absence in the US. And this was at a real low-point for Informix, 2002-2005, when IBM's love was at its lowest. The same was true for each of my fellow board memebers, even the oft-maligned Stuart Litel. I just don't beleive that any board member fulfils the role for commercial advantage. Ian, If the success rate ( or suffocation rate ) is so minimal with the current marketing method, at what point does it become unacceptable to IBM? Isn't there a reasonable goal that any child could understand for IBM to market IDS? It's not like it's rocket science, you either market it or you don't. In fact, the marketing efforts to date look quite amateur, by any measure. Like retards are doing it, having no imagination or creativity. But then again, maybe common sense isn't how this works. Instead I see a perpetual trail of tears of really strange bedfellows touching Informix and keeping it in a permanent state of limbo. Just plain f.cking weird how in the simplest of terms IBM wants to piss on your head and tell you it's raining. Sorry, I don't understand weird sh.t like that, or just lame excuses to explain the lack of real marketing for Informix. Oracle and Microsoft don't do anything spectacular other than the basics. Geez how dumb do IBM think people are? All the lame a.s excuses and nobody from IBM has the balls to simply stand up and make sh.t happen. Just amazing. Informix :: The Database With Invisibility Built In > [SNIP] >> REALLY? IF THERE AREN'T ANY CUSTOMERS BESIDES WALMART, WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS? [quoted text clipped - 52 lines] > > -G > Sorry, I don't understand weird sh.t like that, or just lame excuses to > explain the lack of real marketing for Informix. Oracle and Microsoft [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Informix :: The Database With Invisibility Built In They are afraid to market IDS properly for fear of being accused of detracting from - and probably actually detracting from - DB2. My wish would be for IBM to market IDS as its flagship in the Linux-Unix-Windows arena. But again, having spent so much time trying to convince everyone that DB2 is not just a mainframe and as/400 product, this is probably a step too far now. The problem is threefold. IM can't market without getting approval from SWG. Or so they say. They claim that you *can't* market an individual product. Yet if you see the IBM Hardware commercials, they do market a "single product". Like their blade servers. (Opps! that's a line of products that are *all* blade servers). ;-) IM is split between the DB2 camp and the IDS camp. Senior Management hasn't created a complete IM product map. (Hint: When was the last time an SSR or even a brand sales specialist could give a 30,000 foot explanation of all of the IM products and how they work together?) IM management doesn't believe in marketing. After all, we *all* *"know"* that databases are a *comodity*. (Now don't get me started there...) The point is that even without rocking the boat, qtr after qtr, year after year, IDS license revenues and number of installations is growing. So why break something that "works"? Forget about the fact that the numbers could grow faster if they did spend money on marketing correctly. (Including sales incentives to the client team.) But hey! What do I know? -G _________________________________________________________________ Making the world a better place one message at a time. http://www.imtalkathon.com/?source=EML_WLH_Talkathon_BetterPlace |
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