IBM launched its biggest ever upgrade to its DB2 database
last week, but many users of legacy DB2 systems face the prospect
of a costly migration if they are to take advantage of the
enhancements in the package.
The upgrade, "DB2 Universal Database for z/OS version 8", for use
on IBM's zSeries mainframes, can only be carried out from version
7.
IBM told Computer Weekly, "Existing customers should ensure they
are successfully running DB2 Universal Database for z/OS and OS/390
version 7 before migrating to DB2 Universal Database for z/OS
version 8."
This means that many existing users on version 5 and version 6
(which has only 15 months of support left) cannot jump to version 8
without going through version 7 deployments and testing
first.
Mike Thompson, principal research analyst at Butler Group, said the
new product contained significant enhancements for users. However,
he warned, "There are still large numbers of version 6 users who
are coming to the end of their support and there are a smaller
number of version 5 users. IBM so far has not spelt out whether it
is going to do anything to help them reach version 8 if they want
these enhancements."
Jeff Jones, IBM's director of strategy for DB2 information
management software, admitted there were still a large number of
version 6 DB/3 mainframe users globally. He said IBM had not
decided when it would stop selling version 7 of the mainframe
solution. Nor has it decided on the upgrade roadmaps to version 8,
he added.
Users upgrading from version 7 also face a complex task, according
to David Owen, chairman of the DB2 UK Users Group. Migration would
require more planning than previous releases, he said, particularly
as the software requires companies to migrate to the Unicode
standard, which allows data to be read in any language.
Owen was confident the new version would benefit users. "It will
provide significant benefits to the DB2 community, notably the
introduction of online schema for reducing downtime when making
database changes, improved data partitioning, SQL/XML publishing,
system-wide back-up and recovery and better Java support.
"It will also allow users to take advantage of even larger data
volumes and processing power with 64-bit addressing," he said.