Letter from IBM GM: Daniel Hernandez

>Informix Fanatics –

I hope this message finds you all healthy and safe.

IBM Data and AI has been executing on our strategy to win the client journey in Hybrid Cloud and AI. We are achieving this by :

1. Helping clients making ALL data accessible and ready for AI. …supporting all data types and workloads, available across the end to end hybrid/multi-cloud environment, and for different form factors and consumption models.

2. Providing a unified experience with IBM Cloud Pak for Data. …driving consistency and integration across the complete portfolio to reduce TCO, accelerate time to value, and simplify the skills required.

3. Focusing on client centricity by listening to client feedback and ensuring client satisfaction as measured by NPS survey measures.

Informix is key to the Data and AI strategy.

With this blog I’d like to reiterate 4 points in terms of Informix positioning (#1 and #2 below), the vitality and innovation we’re bringing to market (#3), and our partnership with HCL (#4).

1) Core database market – IBM Informix database supports online transaction processing (OLTP), embedded partner solutions, and data warehouse / analytical workloads. IBM Informix has built a loyal base of clients/partners and a solid reputation for its ease of use and high reliability.

A few highlights to point out –

• Clients specifically choose Informix for unique features like Time-series or differentiated support for highly distributed operations
• Thousands of clients have use Informix for mission critical applications for decades. “It just works”
• Informix’s reliability was made for pandemics. Despite a pandemic year, total 2020 WW revenue is higher than in 2019

Informix clients and partners know great technology and we love them for it. Our every objective is to ensure a top notch client experience with a return on investment unmatched in the industry.

2) New Edge and IoT markets – Informix has the ability to run unattended inside an astonishingly small footprint. This positions Informix uniquely for embedded and IoT, edge gateway solutions within many industries.

• Gartner identified Edge Computing as a Top 10 strategic trend in 2017. IBM Informix is well suited to exploit the growth as the only enterprise class database in the space
• IBM Cloud Pak for Data will leverage the unique capabilities of Informix for extending its reach to edge analytics and bringing AI closer to the point of origin
• IBM Informix won the Supplier Appreciation award from a leading networking company for the Excellence in Quality two years in a row (an exceptional embedded solution)

3) IBM Informix Cloud Pak for Data cartridge v14.10 – This quarter Informix is now offered through a certified container on IBM Cloud Pak for Data running on Red Hat OpenShift.

• Informix clients will benefit by modernizing their online transaction processing (OLTP) and replication workloads with a wide array of IBM and partner services including Data Virtualization, Watson Studio, Watson Discover among many others

• Informix cartridge will be aggressively enhanced in 2021 and beyond to bring an even tighter integration and unified experience to the loyal Informix client base

4) HCL partnership – In April 2017, IBM announced a 15-year IPP for the Informix product family with HCL. HCL performs the development and support of Informix while IBM continues to market, sell, and handle all Informix transactions.

• The partnership is active with healthy collaboration across all product functions: https://www.ibm.com/blogs/journey-to-ai/2020/04/a-partnership-for-growth-and-innovation-ibm-informix-and-hcl/

• Informix has continued to earn high levels of client Net Promoter Scores (NPS): 71 currently for NPS, considered “World Class”.

Thank you for your commitment to Informix!

Informix Fan,

Daniel Hernandez

GM, IBM Data and AI

@danhernandezATX