Allan Parker of Sun has written a fascinating post on the rising challenge that open source database products (OSDB: such as MySQL) pose to proprietary products such as Oracle and DB2. This post is a must-read for all database administrators.
Update November 11, 2008
As commenter Leons Petrazickis notes, Sun has acquired MySQL. In fact, Mr. Parker’s employer acquired MySQL two months after his piece was posted. In his prophetic article Parker predicts that one of the ways that proprietary vendors such as Oracle or DB2 will stave off competition by OSDB’s is through acquisition of the products themselves. In a scathing critique of the purchase, another writer John Dvorak suggests that the only beneficiary from the purchase is Oracle, a Sun strategic partner.
Clearly the struggle by the big database vendors to maintain market share relative to the OSDB’s has begun. Parker makes a persuasive argument that processor-based pricing by IBM and Oracle has resulted in increasing Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for their databases, especially compared with the declining cost of the hardware that the database resides on. Even though the cost of ownership continues to go up, DB2 and Oracle features have stagnated and OSDB benchmarks relative to DB2 and Oracle continue to improve. OSDB’s look increasingly attractive, especially to new companies, offshore companies, and innovative new technology firms such as Google, Facebook, Youtube and Flickr.
Commenters counter that change in corporate database culture occurs very slowly. We will all have a few years before we need to worry about declining market share for DB2 and Oracle. Not only do database products change slowly, so also do internal corporate cultures (which condition attitudes regarding acceptance of new products) and the availability of trained employees and contractors. One commenter, for example, points out the difficulty of finding experienced PostGreSQL developers and administrators. And even though OSDB’s are making progress in both performance and features, this also is glacial, and equality with DB2/Oracle is not imminent.
I believe, however, that database administrators and developers always have to keep their eye on the Next Big Thing, and not content ourselves with the promise of slow change. The open source revolution will eventually affect us all. What, in particular, can DB2 database administrators and developers do to remain relevant in the IT marketplace?
- Parker points out that both IBM and Oracle can slow down the advance of the OSDB’s by maintaining a more competitive pricing structure. Both DB2 and Oracle are too expensive. Database administrators and developers have a vested interest in keeping DB2 in the market; we need to be activists on the DB2 pricing issue. Don’t be afraid to let IBM know that we don’t want DB2 riding off into the sunset. IBM, with its diverse revenue base, is better positioned than Oracle to reduce the price of its flagship database product.
- IBM can continue to position its freeware DB2 Express-C as a viable OSDB competitor, gradually augmenting its memory and processor limits to match conventional commercial usage. This allows cash-strapped companies, especially in India and China, to consider DB2 for mid-range databases. (( See also Cherry Shu’s blog on DB2 Express-C. ))
- Relational database administrators should continue to be open to opportunities to crosstrain in other database systems, particularly PostGreSQL. Many DB2 database administrators, myself included, have looked across the fence at Oracle and considered cross-training, or even a complete switch to Oracle. Parker shows that DB2 and Oracle may both, eventually, face extinction if they don’t make big changes. Maybe DBA’s looking for job security should look in another direction altogether – toward the OSDB’s.
My wife, daughter, I and four friends were at the Obama rally in Grant Park, Chicago last night. It was magical. Looking across the sea of faces at the beginning of Obama’s acceptance speech, I had the strongest sense of being at the moment where history is forged, of being in a place and time that will be recounted for decades and centuries to come. Whatever Obama will or will not accomplish, he has already made history. We are proud to be in the Presidential hometown, the home of the first modern, urban American President.
Walking out onto Michigan Avenue after the rally, the street scene evoked thoughts of what it must have been like for Parisians after the storming of the Bastille. Michigan Avenue was shut down, and thousands walked and danced in the streets. I have never seen anything like it.
People obviously make a great deal out of Obama being America’s first Black president, but he is the first in many categories:
- Obama was not born into wealth; the only twentieth century presidents who share this trait were Harry S. Truman and Bill Clinton. (( Credits to my colleague Jim Beeson for this observation. ))
- Our first urban president, who hails from a major city and calls it home.
- Our first international president, with a globe-trotting early history. Kenya has declared today a national holiday and calls Obama the World President.
- I would argue our first post-eighteenth century intellectual (geek) president, breaking the trend of nineteenth and twentieth century anti-intellectualism documented by Hofstadter in his famous book. (( I am not implying that Obama is more intelligent than other lettered presidents such as Clinton or Carter, only that he is uniquely an intellectual president. I will save defining what being an intellectual means for another post. ))
- Our first fully post-Vietnam era president, a man exactly my age. I finally feel that my generation is represented. I am tired of rehashing my parents’ issues repeatedly. It’s a new world, and we need someone who can break free of the tired, outdated paradigms that have ruled us since the seventies.
Can you believe Americans have elected a man with the middle name of Hussein? We have distinguished ourselves as cosmopolitan people by this choice and shown the world that we are not the ignorant folk that the last eight years of Bush have made us seem to be. Americans ROCK and last night proved that!
How will this affect Chicago?
There are a few places to begin looking for answers.
- Heightened Prestige both nationally and around the world (2008.11.25 UPDATE: For example, this BBC report which refers to Chicago as the “new Washington”). Just as the Clintons help NYC, we now have our own presidential patron now. Obama puts the emphasis on Chicago as a great world city.
- 2016 Olympics. Does this add to the city’s world standing, and improve our chances of winning 2016? Obama and the Olympics seems an obvious synergy. Both will probably play a similar role in allocating resources to improvement of Chicago’s aging infrastructure.
- Chicago Tourism. Surely the Obama presidency will add to the appeal of Chicago as a global travel destination.
- International Television and Print Media. Look for a heightened focus on Chicago.
- Chicago politics. Will Chicago politicians come under greater national scrutiny?
- Obama’s Kenwood home. Will Michelle and Barack keep their house on the south side? Or will living there when not in the White House be judged a security risk?
- Air Force One. Air Force One will need to land at O’Hare Airport. Then, to get to his home in Kenwood, he will need to motorcade it via the expressways, or take a helicopter into the south side. I can’t even begin to imagine how that will impact using O’Hare, the expressways and local roads.
- The Security Umbrella. How will the heightened and permanent presence of the Secret Service and other federal security organs affect us? In particular, will the already massive network of video surveillance cameras in Chicago be augmented, taking us the same direction New York City and London have been moving?
- Terrorism. I consider the risk of terrorism anywhere in the United States negligible, and have never considered our low-key City of Broad Shoulders a likely target for anyone. Now I am not so sure. I feel Obama’s Chicago connection, coupled with the likelihood that he will continue to maintain a residence in the city, probably elevate Chicago’s risk of a terror attack. This is still not likely to ever happen; the Obama Presidency, overall, should be a great boon to Chicago and its people.
Credits: Thanks to Jim Beeson for his suggestions and comments on this post.
