After the harsh but necessarily criticism regarding IBM's Informix strategy, it seems that things come in motion.

The IIUG Board of Directors had their quarterly meeting and IBM presented a three-year plan for Informix. Notice that this isn't a three-year plan regarding the future development of Informix from a technical point of view. Informix Technology has never been a problem, it is simply excellent ! The commercialization of the technology is the weak point. So IBM's three-year commercialization plan for Informix is build on the following four imperatives:

• Delight the install base: Enhance the Informix client relationship and improve client loyalty
• Build Strategic Differentiation: Fix the messaging and enhance the overall Informix value proposition to the market
• Create Proactive Sales Culture: Develop a proactive, high-touch culture, with expansion into growth areas (embedded, etc.)
• Build New, Profitable Revenue Streams: Build new revenue streams that capitalize on the strong and growing footprint of Informix

I think this is an important step in the right direction from IBM. The timeframe of three years shows that the announced strategy change is not a near-term profit-raise task. However we are all stigmatized as in 2007, with the release of IDS 11, IBM already promised a sustainable Informix commercialization strategy and failed to deliver (from my point of view). The next months will show if IBM is able to 'port' the renewed commercialization strategy from Powerpoint to Reality. The new website (including the well done e-book on IDS) and the planned events are a promising start into a new Informix future !

Please read the complete IIUG Insider here.

Author: Eric Herber

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