IBM Db2 Database Reviews

We are partners with IBM and I'm for implementing Power systems with DB2 in this company. 

We propose DB2 and other IBM products to our customers.

As with all IBM products, I like the reliability of this solution. Db2 is a robust relational database with great features. 

If you're already an IBM Customer or you use IBM products, you know they're powerful products.

 IBM recently purchased Red Hat and things are working more smoothly since then, there's more integration.

I think they need to improve the GUI and I'd like to see more integration with other platforms. 

If you have a project involving several platforms or databases it's the integration with other products that's crucial. Db2 has this capability but sometimes there are issues and you have to contact support to get things fixed. 

They haven't done extensive testing with integration; they'll often send you to third parties. It often means that you have to purchase additional products in order to integrate with other platforms and that's an additional cost. 

I've been using this solution for over 20 years. 

The solution is stable. 

The solution is very scalable. IBM has a mid-range and a mainframe system, so every product is made with scalability in mind. 

Their main target is medium and large size business so they're not interested in small business. 

The initial setup is very easy. 

There is an issue with IBM licenses pricing which is expensive, and it's the main downside of buying IBM products or databases.

I rate this solution an eight out of 10. 

We use the solution as a database that connects to some legacy mainframe systems.

The solution is a very stable relational database and has integration with legacy systems. It is a great product.

The solution could be more modern and have updated database technology. This would allow it to work with modern applications a lot more seamlessly. You will find that there are other better-suited databases where you can deal with more modern type applications.

In the future, they can improve by being closely aligned with the next generation of application that are arriving or that will be developed.

I have been using the solution for a couple of years.

I have found the solution to be scalable.

In my experience, the solution is able to be scaled vertically, but not horizontally. Everyone is using the solution in our organization.

The support we have received has been good. However, the support in South Africa has not been as good.

The installation on our side is automated, we can have a database up and ready within a day. Since we have started using automation, the installation has been very easy.

We did the deployment internally and it was not difficult but it could be for someone that is not familiar with the solution. We have eight technicians doing the deployment and maintenance of the solution.

There is a license for this solution and we pay every three years.

I would recommend this solution to others if they have the proper application, otherwise, it might not fulfil their needs. We plan on using the solution in the future.

I rate IBM Db2 Database a seven out of ten.

We use this solution for financial software and also for asset management.

We have a public cloud deployment using Microsoft Azure.

The most valuable features of this solution are security and stability.

We would like to see a web-based interface for this solution, as it would help to improve visibility.

It would be helpful to have more querying tools and more development tools for us to work easily with Microsoft. For example, ODBC drivers would make work easier for our development team.

This solution is very stable. We have had no problems since it was set up.

This solution is scalable. We have an infrastructure that is based on virtual machines, so we can add more to grow as we need. I am very happy about that.

We have perhaps sixty or seventy people using this solution.

Technical support for us in São Tomé is very difficult because we don't have a local representative from IBM. We have to get our support from Portugal, so it can take a long time to solve the problem.

The initial setup of this solution was very complex.

Our deployment took one or two days.

We needed to contract a specialist from Portugal to assist with the installation and the planning.

I don't think that we will be changing solutions within the next year.

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

Our primary use case for IBM Db2 is ERP.

The most valuable feature is PowerPC support.

Performance is something that can be improved with DB2.

We have had issues with respect to scalability.

The usability can be simplified.

We have been using IBM Db2 for two years.

Technical support is okay and we haven't had any issues with it.

In summary, this is a good solution and one that I recommend. However, there is room for improvement in terms of performance and scalability.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

• PureScale
• Blu acceleration
• XML and JSON datatypes
• Autonomous computing (storage, memory, and maintenance)
• HADR
• NoSQL (RDF and MongoDB).

Due to the stability, the applications can have a very long uptime, even with modifications in the application.

I have never needed to install a fix pack because there is a problem on the engine where new functions are used. Users forget to know that a DB2 is supporting the data.

Monitoring. There are very few applications that really monitor DB2.
Marketing. IBMers from other IBM brands, do not rely on DB2.

12 years.

It is easier to administer and to use than other RDBMS; however, developers like complex things and they get into trouble when using DB2 for the first time.

Not at all.

A lot of scalability can be done in DB2, it only depends on the money you want to invest in it and on the functions that you really need. It can go from a free database to a very big infrastructure.

In other countries, different to US or Canada, the support is not straightforward. This product has a small market share outside North America, and for this reason, experts outside that part of the world are very few, even inside IBM. Thus, the customer support is very basic, and any medium problem needs to go to Canada.

A six out of 10.

I have used a little bit of Oracle, SQL Server, PostgresSQL, and MySQL. They are good platforms, but they are not as easy to work with as DB2 is.

DB2 is easy to install. You just need to run the installer, and that is all. In AIX, it runs smoothly.

In Linux, it requires some libraries. Sometimes in 32 bits they are not easy to get, but once you got them, the installation is normal.

In Windows, it is just next, next. Once the binaries are installed, the instance is created in less than a minute, and it is only necessary to know what an instance means in DB2.

Finally, the database is just a command, that in some very specific cases it need extra parameters. If not, it creates a database in two minutes, and then, you have a powerful database ready to receive your data.

If you are creating a small budget project, DB2 could be your first option. You have almost no limits with the Community-C edition (the free one), and then you can scale up to a supported version. Instead, when you have a very big infrastructure, I recommend you to check what you need, then DB2 could be a very good option.

Compared to Oracle, it is so much cheaper.

It has a good, stable performance, and it's not Oracle. 

Some of the internal rearrangement in the administration is not as straightforward as it is in competing products. 

Not very solid compared to its competitors' products.

Scales well enough for a relational database. Not exceptional; scales at or slightly below its peers.

Do not use it. Freely available documentation is a bit weak.

No. I have previous experience extensive with Oracle, SQL Server and Sybase. It is a good product. Better than Sybase, but not as good as Oracle, and comparable to SQL Server. 

I can't comment. I have no experience here.

They are competitive and honest (compared to how peer firms approach licensing conversations).

No, they were the incumbent.

Prototype any use of fringe functionality, XML-specific handling, JSON Processing, NoSQL Extensions, etc. 

Some customers use it for imaging databases, and others use it for ERP systems.

The most valuable features are the HADR, and it is so simple.

The backup solution lacks flexibility in some situations and could be improved. In addition, the management tools should be improved in the next release.

We have been using this solution for more than five years. We mostly use version 10.5 but sometimes use version 9.7.

It is a stable solution.

It is a scalable solution. 

I rate the technical support an eight out of ten. Our issue with the technical support isn't isolated to IBM Db2 Database, but it is an IBM policy. They try to solve problems remotely, but it is not the same as other products because it takes more time to solve.

The initial setup was easy. I rate the setup an eight out of ten.

The solution has annual licensing, and the costs are reasonable for the product. I rate the pricing a six out of ten.

I rate this solution a seven out of ten. I would recommend this product to customers. Most solutions have some environments requiring an enterprise database, so if a customer uses an IBM solution, the database should be Db2. Some customers may be using SQL Server, and if we have the solution for the Microsoft environment, we will recommend them to another database. But if the proposed solution is AIX or Unix system, we recommend they use the Db2 database on that platform. So it depends on the environment.

My main use of Db2 is as an additional data source for integration or a source for integration adapters.

The most valuable features are the simplicity of the database and the access to Db2 and Db2 information.

I've been working with this solution for twenty years.

Db2 is stable and reliable.

IBM's technical support is good, it's an excellent reason to purchase Db2.

The initial setup was quick and easy.

IBM's products tend to be quite costly, especially given the availability of free, open-source alternatives.

I would rate Db2 eight out of ten.