We learn and we memorize, but technology keeps advancing. New tools provide better
ways to accomplish our goals, and we have to adjust. Take driving a car: If you're
of a certain age, you may remember learning to pump your brakes on a slick road
to keep the wheels from locking up and sending you into a skid. But in these days
of antilock braking systems (ABS), that's exactly what you’re not supposed to do:
when you hit an icy patch, the best way to stop is to stand on the brake pedal and
let the ABS chip handle the rest.
When it comes to DBMSs... well, you can see where this is headed. I don't
want to steal any thunder from Sheryl Larsen's fantastic cover story on how
keeping your databases up-to-date can bring serious rewards, so go read it now!
Practically every year, the development teams at IBM release new, more efficient,
more effective ways to get the results that you are looking for. Do your
databases and applications take advantage of those new features? Or are you
still pumping the brake pedal on a car that has ABS, and paying the price in
reduced performance?
Beyond Sheryl's hands-on advice, we have lots of new developments to explore.
Earlier this year, IBM acquired Guardium, an organization that brings an innovative
approach to real-time enterprise database monitoring and protection. In this
issue, we pull back the curtain on the technical details of the Guardium solution—it's a story that you won't want to miss.
It's also turning out to be a very exciting year for Informix. You may have
already heard the buzz, but skip on over to Stuart Litel's column for the full scoop.
Need more Informix? Check out the feature story on preparing Informix for embedded
deployments and join Lester Knutsen for Part 2 of his series on architecting
data warehouses.
There's lots more to see in this issue, so I'll leave you with one last thought: If
you haven't started thinking about attending the Information On Demand Global
Conference this October in Las Vegas, what are you waiting for? From what I'm
hearing as we plan the next issue, it’s going to be worth the trip.
Thanks for reading, Cameron Crotty
Editor IBM Data Management
