IBM Db2 is an expensive solution. While I am not heavily involved with pricing, additional companies provide capabilities or products like those from BMC, which many installations might also purchase.
Mainframe Technical Manager/Service Integration Lead at Saudi Business Machines
Real User
Top 10
Aug 8, 2024
In the past, mainframes were considered expensive because software licensing was based on the full capacity of the hardware. Nowadays, licensing is based on peak usage, typically less than the hardware's full capacity—often around 75%. This change reduces costs. Additionally, IBM mainframe developers have introduced features like speciality processors that handle specific tasks, offload work from the main CPU, and reduce costs further. For example, if you have special CPUs managing some of the workload, peak usage might drop from 75% to around 60%, making the system more cost-effective. Mainframe hardware generally has a longer lifespan than other servers, such as HP Gen 10 or Gen 11 servers, which typically have two to three years. Mainframes are built to last much longer.
Database Admin Senior Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Top 10
May 24, 2024
The AESE version needs to be used for availing the advanced features of IBM Db2 Database. The total cost of the solution depends upon the PVU licensing. The number of users of IBM Db2 Database varies in our organization depending upon the client we are working for. For instance, previously, there were greater numbers of users for the entertainment industry client than is required presently for a banking system. In my experience, IBM Db2 Database is majorly used for developing applications involving critical operations due to the excellent stability offered by the solution.
Senior project manager (APAC region) at FreeBalance
Real User
Top 10
Jan 24, 2024
I would rate the pricing a five out of ten. Since it's a government contract, the rates are negotiated and agreed upon with the government. So, it's not like the standard market price. It's not super expensive, but also not cheap.
Global Solutions Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
MSP
Oct 10, 2023
If I consider the price of IBM Db2 Database, I would say there are cheaper products in the market. Whether or not there is a requirement to pay additionally for maintenance or support apart from the standard licensing fees of the solution depends on the agreement you have with IBM.
Product Development Manager at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Top 10
Jul 3, 2023
Compared to other databases, Db2 is relatively cheaper. Oracle is very expensive. Sometimes, it is ten times more expensive than what we pay for Db2. However, Db2 has more features as compared to Oracle. When we buy Db2, we buy all the features. When we buy Oracle, we just buy a few features. For example, for row access security, you have a different product that you need to pay to unlock that functionality. Things like storage are available on Db2 straight out of the box. You have to pay Oracle to unlock new features.
Implemenation Specialist at a engineering company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Top 20
Aug 4, 2022
I am not paying the license for it individually. It's included in the package. That said, the cost in general could be more reasonable for the package as a whole.
It is expensive. The price depends on the size of the machine on which you are installing the Db2 and the features you are using. It also depends on the country. IBM has different policies and different options for payment for this product.
It's very expensive for West African countries like ours. We are currently in discussions with IBM concerning the reduction of licensing costs. We have a license based on the capacity of the machine and are looking into a license based on usage.
Mainframe Technical Manager/Service Integration Lead at Saudi Business Machines
Real User
Top 10
Nov 15, 2021
In the 90s, there was a big problem with the IBM mainframe environment and there was a big push to move the middleware off the mainframe and put it on cheaper distributed hardware. What happened then was the workload was coming in over the network. This was what we called dynamic SQL coming into Db2 - which was a bit more resource-intensive to what it was with traditional legacy style workloads that were static SQL coming into the Db2 environment, that we could see the CPU on the mainframe. In the old days, in the 90s and before that, we were charged quite expensive amounts for licensing the software on the full capacity of the mainframe they're running on. Now, what they introduced mid-nineties/late-nineties was these specialized processes like a coupling facility. There was a Z integrated information process called a zip. This supported workloads coming in off the network from web servers coming into Db2, and we know that these workloads are traditionally resource-intensive. They're not as efficient as static SQL. This meant that in the old days, our licensing costs would shoot up as we would have to upgrade the mainframes and it would make it more expensive. IBM introduced these specialized processes and the zip allows the workload to be dispatched on that specialized processor. Not all of it - maybe 40% to 50% of a transaction is eligible to be dispatched on a zip. This means that we don't need as much of the standard mainframe engines to support the business workload. Anything that's running on a zip, we don't have to pay licensing fees. This was something that made the mainframe more competitive again. Furthermore, with the mainframe we have now we can have the forerunner to virtualization (VM), which is what I started on back in the early 90s, known now as ZVM. Having ZVM means that you can run virtual machines in that OS. It acts as a hypervisor. It runs virtual machines in that OS that could be separate Linux instances. The flagship or premium operating system on the mainframe is z/OS. It used to be called MVS, multiple virtual storage. We're going to be able to evaluate next year within Linux Dockers, in them LPARs, alongside all other tasks that we've got running such as Db2, such as KICKS. It is going to make it really interesting in the future.
Senior Systems Architect/Analyst/Developer at a logistics company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Aug 30, 2021
It's hard to separate out the exact pricing. It's bundled; you can't compare head-to-head against Oracle and SQL server at that point, as the costing is embedded inside of the purchase of the operating system software.
Global Infrastructure service manager at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Oct 29, 2020
We did not buy it. It came with our hardware without any complimentary maintenance. If I compare Db2 Database with Oracle Database, its price is lower than Oracle Database.
The pricing is done by our pricing team and the quotes are given to the client's finance team. So in that sense, I do not have direct experience with the pricing models. I can say that Db2 is less costly than Oracle because I am selling both and I am doing enterprise sales for both. When a customer gets a quote during the buying process, I can see the pricing. The pricing for Db2 is always less than Oracle.
Implemenation Specialist at a engineering company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Top 20
Feb 26, 2020
IBM Db2 was much cheaper as a package than using other products. This is because IBM supplied a package with its product. It's an application. So it was much more efficient and a stronger competitor in that regard.
System Administrator at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Dec 19, 2019
The cost is embedded in the price of the backup solution. We know that the backup solution is quite expensive and with each inside license, there is also a database license. We don't see what the specific price of the DB2 license is because we pay for the backup license as a package.
Managing Director, North America at Business Consultants, Inc.
Real User
Oct 24, 2019
The solution is pretty expensive and IBM isn't very transparent in their pricing plans. You need to be aware of what your company specifically needs before purchasing anything.
DB2 Enterprise for Linux, UNIX, and Windows is the ideal data server for the most demanding workloads. New XML support is designed to help firms minimize the time and effort it takes to persist and use their XML data reducing development costs and improving business agility.
IBM Db2 is an expensive solution. While I am not heavily involved with pricing, additional companies provide capabilities or products like those from BMC, which many installations might also purchase.
In the past, mainframes were considered expensive because software licensing was based on the full capacity of the hardware. Nowadays, licensing is based on peak usage, typically less than the hardware's full capacity—often around 75%. This change reduces costs. Additionally, IBM mainframe developers have introduced features like speciality processors that handle specific tasks, offload work from the main CPU, and reduce costs further. For example, if you have special CPUs managing some of the workload, peak usage might drop from 75% to around 60%, making the system more cost-effective. Mainframe hardware generally has a longer lifespan than other servers, such as HP Gen 10 or Gen 11 servers, which typically have two to three years. Mainframes are built to last much longer.
I rate the product pricing a nine out of ten.
The product has a competitive pricing.
The AESE version needs to be used for availing the advanced features of IBM Db2 Database. The total cost of the solution depends upon the PVU licensing. The number of users of IBM Db2 Database varies in our organization depending upon the client we are working for. For instance, previously, there were greater numbers of users for the entertainment industry client than is required presently for a banking system. In my experience, IBM Db2 Database is majorly used for developing applications involving critical operations due to the excellent stability offered by the solution.
I would rate the pricing a five out of ten. Since it's a government contract, the rates are negotiated and agreed upon with the government. So, it's not like the standard market price. It's not super expensive, but also not cheap.
If I consider the price of IBM Db2 Database, I would say there are cheaper products in the market. Whether or not there is a requirement to pay additionally for maintenance or support apart from the standard licensing fees of the solution depends on the agreement you have with IBM.
Compared to other databases, Db2 is relatively cheaper. Oracle is very expensive. Sometimes, it is ten times more expensive than what we pay for Db2. However, Db2 has more features as compared to Oracle. When we buy Db2, we buy all the features. When we buy Oracle, we just buy a few features. For example, for row access security, you have a different product that you need to pay to unlock that functionality. Things like storage are available on Db2 straight out of the box. You have to pay Oracle to unlock new features.
I rate the price of the IBM Db2 Database an eight out of ten.
The solution's pricing is fine.
While the solution is less expensive compared to Oracle, it is still pretty expensive.
We have a license for the Advanced Enterprise version of this solution.
The solution's hardware and subscription model for support are very expensive in the Middle East or Egypt. I rate cost a three out of ten.
I am not paying the license for it individually. It's included in the package. That said, the cost in general could be more reasonable for the package as a whole.
It is expensive. The price depends on the size of the machine on which you are installing the Db2 and the features you are using. It also depends on the country. IBM has different policies and different options for payment for this product.
It's very expensive.
It's very expensive for West African countries like ours. We are currently in discussions with IBM concerning the reduction of licensing costs. We have a license based on the capacity of the machine and are looking into a license based on usage.
IBM's products tend to be quite costly, especially given the availability of free, open-source alternatives.
In the 90s, there was a big problem with the IBM mainframe environment and there was a big push to move the middleware off the mainframe and put it on cheaper distributed hardware. What happened then was the workload was coming in over the network. This was what we called dynamic SQL coming into Db2 - which was a bit more resource-intensive to what it was with traditional legacy style workloads that were static SQL coming into the Db2 environment, that we could see the CPU on the mainframe. In the old days, in the 90s and before that, we were charged quite expensive amounts for licensing the software on the full capacity of the mainframe they're running on. Now, what they introduced mid-nineties/late-nineties was these specialized processes like a coupling facility. There was a Z integrated information process called a zip. This supported workloads coming in off the network from web servers coming into Db2, and we know that these workloads are traditionally resource-intensive. They're not as efficient as static SQL. This meant that in the old days, our licensing costs would shoot up as we would have to upgrade the mainframes and it would make it more expensive. IBM introduced these specialized processes and the zip allows the workload to be dispatched on that specialized processor. Not all of it - maybe 40% to 50% of a transaction is eligible to be dispatched on a zip. This means that we don't need as much of the standard mainframe engines to support the business workload. Anything that's running on a zip, we don't have to pay licensing fees. This was something that made the mainframe more competitive again. Furthermore, with the mainframe we have now we can have the forerunner to virtualization (VM), which is what I started on back in the early 90s, known now as ZVM. Having ZVM means that you can run virtual machines in that OS. It acts as a hypervisor. It runs virtual machines in that OS that could be separate Linux instances. The flagship or premium operating system on the mainframe is z/OS. It used to be called MVS, multiple virtual storage. We're going to be able to evaluate next year within Linux Dockers, in them LPARs, alongside all other tasks that we've got running such as Db2, such as KICKS. It is going to make it really interesting in the future.
It is expensive.
It's hard to separate out the exact pricing. It's bundled; you can't compare head-to-head against Oracle and SQL server at that point, as the costing is embedded inside of the purchase of the operating system software.
There is an issue with IBM licenses pricing which is expensive, and it's the main downside of buying IBM products or databases.
We normally handle large size businesses and as far as I am aware, the license is negotiable based on the number of users and the quantitative data.
There is a license for this solution and we pay every three years.
We did not buy it. It came with our hardware without any complimentary maintenance. If I compare Db2 Database with Oracle Database, its price is lower than Oracle Database.
The pricing is done by our pricing team and the quotes are given to the client's finance team. So in that sense, I do not have direct experience with the pricing models. I can say that Db2 is less costly than Oracle because I am selling both and I am doing enterprise sales for both. When a customer gets a quote during the buying process, I can see the pricing. The pricing for Db2 is always less than Oracle.
I don't know too much about the pricing of the solution. There may be extra fees on top of just the licensing fee. I'm not sure.
IBM Db2 was much cheaper as a package than using other products. This is because IBM supplied a package with its product. It's an application. So it was much more efficient and a stronger competitor in that regard.
I think that everyone knows that with IBM the standard price is higher than the others.
The cost is embedded in the price of the backup solution. We know that the backup solution is quite expensive and with each inside license, there is also a database license. We don't see what the specific price of the DB2 license is because we pay for the backup license as a package.
The solution is pretty expensive and IBM isn't very transparent in their pricing plans. You need to be aware of what your company specifically needs before purchasing anything.
Licensing fees are on a yearly basis.