I use the IBM Db2 Database for development applications. Many clients in our company have business applications currently working on it.
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Management is simplified with secure data handling and organizational efficiency
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The IBM Db2 Database is trusted, and IT effort is less than any other product. IBM Db2's support for both structured and unstructured data benefits me because both are allowed.
IBM's impact on in-memory technology is good for working in our organization. The IBM Db2 multi-workload helps me manage diverse business applications with easy management. We just have a backup of incremental changes every day, and applications working with it do not need maintenance gradually.
The IBM Db2 Database brought benefits to my organization as we did not spend too much money on security. It is secure enough, and the IT teams do not have heavy work.
What needs improvement?
The IBM Db2 Database is a good solution, but now there is a high maintenance charge.
The IBM Db2 Database needs improved support, and there are many difficulties in using it. We tend to use the cloud, and our country tends to be Masr al-Raqamia. This is a project we need to participate in, but our database is not readable for other sites, and dealing with the data is not easy.
Regarding the price of the IBM Db2 Database, upgrading to Power 9 or Power 10 is very expensive for our company now.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the IBM Db2 Database for 20 years.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support of IBM is quite good. I would rate it an eight.
How was the initial setup?
The initial deployment of the IBM Db2 Database was straightforward and easy to deploy.
What about the implementation team?
IBM deployed its product by itself, so it was not difficult to deploy the IBM Db2 Database.
What other advice do I have?
I am using the desktop version of the IBM Db2 Database, and we need to move to the cloud, but we need to develop our application. On a scale of one to ten, I rate the IBM Db2 Database a nine.
Support improves setup and maintenance while pricing influences decision
What is our primary use case?
We work at the banks. The bank has many IBM products. IBM Db2 Database is just one of them. It is mostly mainframes, but there are still some relational databases, such as IBM Db2 Warehouse, that we are interested in purchasing for financial companies.
Because we are a big client, we have a good price with IBM Db2 Database.
Based on my use case and understanding, performance-wise, Oracle is probably better because they may have better technology. However, for us it is acceptable since we do not use it extensively, so there is no real difference for us.
What is most valuable?
We mostly use the core Oracle database.
IBM Db2 Database is perfect and leading in this area.
Regarding how IBM Db2 Database can improve, I do not have anything in mind as our use cases are not complicated. There is PostgreSQL and SQL Server available. IBM Db2 Database, because of enterprise performance and support, is why banks still maintain their relationship with it. I am uncertain whether other companies do the same, but banks do.
What needs improvement?
IBM is implementing some release improvements. It might be slightly slower than other database vendors, but it works well since banks typically do not move quickly with leading-edge technology.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We have no complaints, and I would rate it between eight and nine.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
There is not much maintenance required.
How are customer service and support?
Since the bank is a big client of IBM, we normally receive very good support and substantial discounts on the price.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We have some Oracle products. Oracle performs well but is becoming very expensive. The major concern is the cost, and there are other products that are much cheaper replacements with minimal performance degradation. That is why many companies are moving away from Oracle, at least for relational database use cases.
What other advice do I have?
If you have a similar use case and the same deal with IBM as our company, it is definitely a good option and choice. The company I work with has more than 50,000 people and more than 500 support staff. We are not locked into one database vendor. We typically work with multiple database vendors simultaneously, selecting the top choice based on the deals we make and other considerations.
We do not use IBM Db2 Database related to AI at this moment because our AI project PLC is still very small scale. We may consider it in the future if we have enough scale.
Overall rating for IBM Db2 Database is 8.5 out of 10.
A highly scalable solution with unique features that enable efficient management of data
What is our primary use case?
I'm helping customers migrate from Oracle to Db2. I am also assisting with business intelligence using Db2 Database.
How has it helped my organization?
One of the benefits of the solution is efficiency. One of our biggest clients is a bank based out of Brazil. As their data grew, fetching data became slow, and they did not have a good banking experience. By moving to Db2, they get better efficiency in managing and accessing the data. They have a good experience with the application.
What is most valuable?
IBM DB2 pureScale Feature is valuable. It is used for scalability. Customers with huge growth potential would really benefit from having a database that enables them to scale their business without the fear of having a redundant database.
What needs improvement?
The product’s user interface is not easy to use. I did one implementation of pureScale at Welsh Bank. It was very, very complex to deploy the feature. It took us more than six weeks. It has specialized hardware for you to use, and specialized switches are required to have that functionality in place. Over the years, it has improved, but nine years ago, it was a nightmare. The product should make the implementation of pureScale easy. It could give a seamless experience.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for about ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is quite stable. It's not a simple database, but it comes with the territory. The product has existed for a long time, since the late 80s. The team has experience in databases, and maintaining them is a breeze for them. The tool is a futuristic database. I witnessed teams in IBM do time travel queries in 2012. The tool’s version 10 had already implemented time travel queries. Years later, we saw the features in other databases.
The product is years ahead of technology and architecture. It helps software developers have very good features that are years ahead. Now people are really focusing on the cloud. I'm sure they have features that help software engineers or developers work or code with the cloud in mind.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I've used SQL Server for a very long time. Microsoft SQL Server is quite easy to use from a beginner’s perspective. Its user interface is very intuitive and quite easy to use.
How was the initial setup?
The ease of setup depends on the instances. In some instances, it's quite complex. Compared to SQL Server, MySQL, and PostgreSQL, Db2 is not easy to deploy. It is quite complex compared to other databases. However, the complexity comes with the territory. Companies that have complex requirements benefit from it.
What about the implementation team?
Depending on the features we are deploying, deployment would take a couple of days to months. IBM DB2 pureScale Feature is quite complex. Deploying it is not easy unless you have somebody who's very, very experienced. While deploying pureScale, we need staff to help with the deployment. I was working with IBM at the time, so I could ask my colleagues, who were quite experienced, to help me. They were from the worldwide team in Toronto. They're quite happy to help.
From a customer’s perspective, we would need a very experienced business partner if we get support from a business partner to assist with the deployment. If we have money, we can contact IBM. IBM is quite expensive. IBM is always ready to assist, and the team is quite experienced. As long as you have knowledgeable database administrators who have the experience and are ready to learn, it's quite easy to maintain daily. For upgrades, we need someone who's very, very experienced to do an actual migration. SQL Server is quite easy to migrate. For Db2, we need experienced people to help out with the migration.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Compared to other databases, Db2 is relatively cheaper. Oracle is very expensive. Sometimes, it is ten times more expensive than what we pay for Db2. However, Db2 has more features as compared to Oracle. When we buy Db2, we buy all the features. When we buy Oracle, we just buy a few features. For example, for row access security, you have a different product that you need to pay to unlock that functionality. Things like storage are available on Db2 straight out of the box. You have to pay Oracle to unlock new features.
What other advice do I have?
I work with huge enterprise customers such as banks who, at the moment, are not quite ready to take the data to the cloud. Db2’s SQL PL understands up to 85% of Oracle’s thought procedures. Many developers are unwilling to invest a lot of money and resources to migrate Oracle databases with huge thought procedures to Db2. However, with Db2, we don't have to migrate all the thought procedures or triggers. DB2 understands most of that language out of the box without changing anything. So it's quite easy to move from Oracle to Db2. This is what I would advise any enterprise customer that is ready to move to Db2. It’s very, very cheap in the long term compared to Oracle or any other database. Overall, I rate the solution a nine and a half out of ten.
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