Other Issues

Highlights: Member Referrals, New Informix Strategy Webcast, IBM Q1'03 Results, and More...

Welcome to the International Informix Users Group (IIUG) Insider! Designed for IIUG members and Informix user group leaders, this publication contains timely and relevant information for the IBM Informix community.

Contents:

1. 2003 IIUG Referral Program Kicked Off
2. Don Top: Informix @ IBM, Product & Strategy Update Q2-2003
3. Upcoming Local User Groups:NYC, Utah, Stockholm, S. Fco...
4. More IBM Conferences to Include Informix Content in 2003
5. IBM Announced Quarterly Financial Results
6. Informix Mobile Academy in the USA
7. Developer Domain: Improving XPS Performance w/GK Indexes
8. FourJ's Renews Training Discount to IIUG Members in USA
9. Useful Links
10. Closing and Credits

2003 IIUG Referral Program Kicked Off

All IIUG members are invited to participate in the 2003 referral program and help our group grow stronger and bigger. It is easy. Just tell your Informix user colleagues and friends to visit http://www.iiug.org/join and enter your e-mail address in the "Referred By" field located at the top of the "Join" screen.

Look for your special personalized link which you may send to your referrals. When clicked on, this link will take the referred individual to the IIUG join screen and automatically fill "Referred By" field.

What the Referring IIUG Member Will Get: IIUG members will obtain ONE point for every individual they refer who joins IIUG. Members who accumulate three points may redeem an IIUG lapel pin. Those who accumulate five points may redeem a lapel pin plus an IIUG luggage tag. The IIUG member who refers the most new members will receive a special price: A fully functional copy of AGS' Server Studio JE v.3.0 [http://www.serverstudio.com] normally priced US$1195.

Just released, Server Studio JE v.3.0 was developed by AGS in cooperation with IBM. Server Studio JE is a set of integrated, state-of-the-art DBMS tools that helps you maximize availability, performance and security of your databases and to consolidate, integrate and effectively manage entire IBM Informix DBMS infrastructure throughout your enterprise. Thank you AGS!

The referral program runs from 15 April through 15 October 2003.

For additional information, please visit http://www.iiug.org/referral.

Don Top: Informix @ IBM, Product & Strategy Update Q2-2003

IBM recently informed IIUG that Don Top, VP and Informix Advocacy Executive, has recorded a webcast to keep us informed and up to date with the Informix product strategy and the value that Informix and other IBM software products can bring to our businesses. Check out "Informix @ IBM: Product and Strategy Update Q2- 2003", the sequel to "Informix Product Roadmap - Securing Your Future" at:

http://www-3.ibm.com/software/data/informix/events/customer/.

Available through 30 June 2003.

Upcoming Local User Groups:NYC, Utah, Stockholm, S. Fco...

There is a strong concentration of local user group meetings in the upcoming weeks. We encourage you to attend and pass on the news to your colleagues and friends with an interest in IBM Informix products.

• New York Metro (NYMARIUG), 23 April
• Utah Informix User Group, Salt Lake City, 24 April
• Swedish Informix User Conference 2003, 5 May
• San Francisco Bay Area (IUGNC), 7 May
• Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 8 May (Tentative)
• Seattle, Washington, 12 May
• UK Informix User Group, 15 May
• Southern California, 15 May

For more information on these and other upcoming Informix-related events, please visit http://www.iiug.org/calendar.

If you would like to learn more about Informix local user groups, please visit http://www.iiug.org/community/lug.html and http://www.iiug.org/iiug/lug_resources.html.

More IBM Conferences to Include Informix Content in 2003

IIUG ENews has learned that an IBM Data Management Technical Conference will take place on 23-27 June in Hamburg, Germany, and will include significant IBM Informix and U2 content. This will be the third IBM conference to do so for 2003!

For additional information, enrollment and conference track descriptions, please visit http://www.ibm.com/services/learning/conf/europe/DB2_Iindex.php.

Additionally, please keep in mind the upcoming IBM Software Symposium 2003, scheduled for 19-23 May in Munich, Germany: http://www.ibm.com/events/symposium20index.php.

And, of course, for IIUG members residing in the US, Canada and Latin America, their own IBM Data Management Technical Conference is to take place 27-31 October in Las Vegas, Nevada: http://www.ibm.com/services/learning/conf/us/dm/.

Keep an eye on http://www.iiug.org/calendar/conferenindex.php for information related to special conference discounts and events for IIUG members.

IBM Announced Quarterly Financial Results

You can access the company's official statement at http://www.ibm.com/investor/1q03/1q03earnings.phtml. Additionally, the two following links provide access to stories the media published on the announcement:

1. www.msnbc.com
2. http://channels.netscape.com

Snippets:

• "IBM Corp.'s first-quarter earnings rose 16 percent from a year earlier but narrowly missed Wall Street expectations even as acquisitions helped lift revenue by 11 percent. "
• "At the software unit, IBM's third largest, revenue rose 8 percent to $3.1 billion."
• "Analyst Kimberly Caughey at investment banking firm Parker/ Hunter Inc. in Pittsburgh said that the slight earnings miss ''isn't that important... They did well considering the economy and the war,'' she said."
• "Analyst Carl Greiner at Stanford, Conn.-based Meta Group... ''If we get any kind of turnaround in the economy, they should be positioned quite well...''"

Informix Mobile Academy in the USA

IBM has notified us that those of us based in the United States can get trained at our own place and at our own pace with the Informix Mobile Academy.

In an effort to provide better flexibility to its customers needing on-site education, IBM has invested in a virtual classroom in a box. They have multiple laptops and servers ready to ship out to customer training locations. This mobile academy is fully self-contained with all the necessary power adapters, network equipment and cables necessary to deliver a course. All you need to do is schedule the on-site engagement with IBM and they will take care of the rest.

For more information please visit: http://www-3.ibm.com/services/learning/us/catalog/informix/onsite.html

Developer Domain: Improving XPS Performance w/GK Indexes

IIUG ENews was just notified of this new posting in the Developer Domain:

Improving Performance in IBM Informix XPS with GK Indexes

"Make your IBM Informix Extended Parallel Server (XPS) data warehouse queries fly with GK indexes! This article tells you what they are, how they work, and how you can make sure the ones you've defined are actually being used."

Thanks to Kathy Zeidenstein, Managing Editor, DB2 Developer Domain (http://www.ibm.com/software/data/developer)

FourJ's Renews Training Discount to IIUG Members in USA

IIUG sponsor, FourJ's, renewed its 15% discount to all IIUG members who purchase training classes in the United States. All you need to do is identify yourself as an IIUG member. For course dates and descriptions, please visit http://new.4js.com/fourjs/site/news.shtml?type=eve&zone=7.

You may note that FourJ's new product, Genero, now gets a "Getting Started" class in May. Genero is FourJ's I-4GL compatible next-generation environment. More info on this product is available at http://new.4js.com/fourjs/site/html/product_overview_02.htm.

To receive a training registration packet or obtain additional information, please email: training@4jsamerica.com

Useful Links

In response to your input, we have created a new page on the IIUG web site containing all the links we used to include. Please find it at:

http://www.iiug.org/quicklinks.html.

Closing and Credits

The International Informix Users Group (IIUG) is an organization designed to enhance communications between IBM and its worldwide user community. IIUG's membership database now exceeds 17,000 entries and enjoys the support and commitment of IBM's Data Management division. Key programs include local user groups and special interest groups, which we promote and assist from launch through growth.

Sources:	IIUG Board of Directors
Editors:	David Smith, IIUG Board of Directors Jean Georges Perrin, IIUG Board of Directors, and Fred Hubbard, IIUG General Manager
For comments, please send an email to ug@iiug.org.