Db2 vs. InterSystems IRIS

I have primarily used it as the basis for a SIS - but I have migrated more than a few systems from there database systems to DB2 (Filemaker, MySQL, etc.). DB2 does have a better structural approach, as opposed to Filemaker, which allows for more data consistency, but this can also lead to an inflexibility that can sometimes be counterintuitive when attempting to compensate for the flexibility of the work environment as Schools tend to have an all in one approach.

Incentivized

It is best suited in the scenario where a single interface is required for providing [a complete end-to-end] solution to the customers. You don't need [a] separate platform to write code or [perform] database operations. All you need is InterSystems IRIS software and you are done. You can also use analytics functionality which is one of the greatest [features] which many customers need for their solution[.]

• DB2 maintains itself very well. The Task Scheduler component of DB2 allows for statistics gathering and reorganization of indexes and tables without user interaction or without specific knowledge of cron or Windows Task Scheduler / Scheduled jobs.
• Its use of ASYNC, NEARSYNC, and SYNC HADR (High Availability Disaster Recovery ) models gives you a range of options for maintaining a very high uptime ratio. Failover from PRIMARY to SECONDARY becomes very easy with just a single command or windowed mouse click.
• Task Scheduler ( DB2 9.7 and earlier ) allows for jobs to be run within other jobs, and exit and error codes can define what other jobs are run. This allows for ease of maintenance without third party softwares.
• Tablespace usage and automatic storage help keep your data segmented while at rest, making partitioning easier.
• Ability to run commands via CLI (Command Line Interface) or via Control Center / Data Studio ( DB2 10.x+) makes administration a breeze.

Incentivized

• Connecting with mutliple vendor platforms and systems allowing us to consume and provide data as needed.
• Allowed us to implement our own RESTful api engine to server data to our internal applications.
• Setting up their recommendations for high availability allow us to perform server maintenance with minimal down time to our users.

• everything about Db2 is 'heavy', even the Community edition and some of the clients
• difficult to configure for beginners /option overload
• LUW and z platforms have minor inconsistencies that really should be a non-issue
• support seems to be declining in terms of quality/quickness of responses

Incentivized

• Enhanced documentation, more comprehensive and user-friendly documentation, including detailed tutorials and examples
• Improving compatibility and integrations with others programming languages
• Introducing tools and techniques to optimize the performance of ObjectScript applications, such as profiling tools, performance monitoring utilities, and code optimization guidelines
• A better compatibility with Python libraries

The DB2 database is a solid option for our school. We have been on this journey now for 3-4 years so we are still adapting to what it can do. We will renew our use of DB2 because we don’t see. Major need to change. Also, changing a main database in a school environment is a major project, so we’ll avoid that if possible.

Incentivized

You have to be well versed in using the technology, not only from a GUI interface but from a command line interface to successfully use this software to its fullest.

Incentivized

The interface is very intuitive, the documentation is very good so it is not complicated to operate.

The security is complex, but you can create a special role to access and the user ONLY can operate with the part that it allows.

Also, you can examine the data very quick with the SQL Browser integrated.

I have never had DB2 go down unexpectedly. It just works solidly every day. When I look at the logs, sometimes DB2 has figured out there was a need to build an index. Instead of waiting for me to do it, the database automatically created the index for me. At my current company, we have had zero issues for the past 8 years. We have upgrade the server 3 times and upgraded the OS each time and the only thing we saw was that DB2 got better and faster. It is simply amazing.

Incentivized

The performances are exceptional if you take care to maintain the database. It is a very powerful tool and at the same time very easy to use. In our installation, we expect a DB machine on the mainframe with access to the database through ODBC connectors directly from branch servers, with fabulous end users experience.

Incentivized

Easily the best product support team. :) Whenever we have questions, they have answered those in a timely manner and we like how they go above and beyond to help.

Incentivized

The InterSystems WRC has always been helpful and responsive. The folks I have spoken with are always understanding of our needs and questions and regardless of if the question is simple or complex we are always met with the same professionalism and helpfulness every time. I have no hesitations contacting InterSystems for help!

the material was very clear and all subjects have been handled

Incentivized

db2 work well with the application, also the replication tool can keep it up

Will done based on a proper planning, so this will makes execution more easier and better.

With the other two mentioned above, I needed to have processes and frameworks that executed outside of the environment driving DB management operations. Yes, these are completely different solutions; however, the support you get for framework, library, and language support allows for runtime at a different layer than with other solutions.

Incentivized

Tibco was not originally planned to be used for HL7 Integrations and as such we had to create some very complicated processes in order for the messages to parse and validate appropriately. It was simply not built for this type of interoperability. Comparatively, InterSystems IRIS for Health (HealthConnect) has out of the box HL7 features that would parse messages, offer a variety of validation options, simplified data lookups and transformation and reduced the amount of time it took to develop connections with out vendor systems. InterSystems IRIS also allows one to push just single files into production at a time so there is less of a chance of us pushing something that should not be in production yet as our previous system was set up to with TIBCO deployments

Incentivized

DB2 can be configured and can work with a variety of applications as opposed to how it was designed initially to only with with IBM mainframes. It's easy implementation process makes it a good buy for many organizations to scale their applications to be the best in terms of versatility, resilience and application performance

Incentivized

• Time efficiency is the major point to highlight, especially the minimal time this takes while querying a larger set of data.
• Reliability becomes another major factor as the application can be accessed at any point in time.
• Users might initially find it challenging to use the application.

Incentivized

• Very Fast and scalable software to deal with big data flow, safe and robust.
• The studio IDE is quite old fashion and lacks a few facilities
• amazing for complex data consumption, its milyi-model capability wich allows multiple different models for a single set of codes.