IBM DB2 Will Target Oracle Database Developers

  • By Jeffrey Schwartz
  • 04/24/09

IBM this week announced a new version of its flagship DB2 database with software that will provide compatibility with applications built for Oracle databases.

Embedded in IBM's forthcoming DB2 9.7, code-named "Cobra" and slated for release in June, is software that provides compatibility with EnterpriseDB Corp.'s Postgres Plus Advanced Server database, which supports all Oracle data types, SQL syntax, semantics and other applications built with Oracle PL/SQL stored procedures. Postgres Advanced Server is built on the open source PostgreSQL database.

"The set of technologies we've added will help developers of custom applications and packaged applications deploy to DB2," said Bernie Spang, director of strategy, analytics and data management for IBM's software group.

For IBM, it's the first time the company has licensed technology from a provider of open source database software, though EnterpriseDB founder Andy Astor said the software embedded in DB2 is based on proprietary code.

"This is not an open source play," Astor said. "Everything else we do is open source but that is one of the ways we make our money, by selling that compatibility technology both to vendors like IBM, in this case, and to users in the form of Postgres Plus Advanced Server."

EnterpriseDB points to a number of customers including FTD and Sony Online Entertainment that have migrated applications developed for Oracle databases to Postgres Plus. The deal with IBM "provides them with proven functionality for enabling compatibility between DB2 and applications written for Oracle," said 451 Group analyst Matthew Aslett in an e-mail.

"Database migrations are complex, time-consuming, costly and rare, so any functionality that makes the process easier is going to be welcomed by those enterprises that are prepared to make the leap," he added.

The licensing pact is the first by EnterpriseDB, but Astor said others are being negotiated.

IBM is hoping the move will motivate more customers to migrate to its InfoSphere Warehouse 9.7 Enterprise Edition, a data-cleansing and business analytics platform based on DB2 and technology IBM acquired from Cognos.

The new release is targeted at bringing data mining, analytics and cubing to departments of enterprises and smaller organizations, Spang said. Also new in DB2 is support for performing simultaneous transactions across XML and relational data.

About the Author

Jeffrey Schwartz is executive editor, features, for Redmond Developer News. You can contact him at [email protected].

Featured

  • data professionals in a meeting

    Data Fluency as a Strategic Imperative

    As an institution's highest level of data capabilities, data fluency taps into the agency of technical experts who work together with top-level institutional leadership on issues of strategic importance.

  • stylized AI code and a neural network symbol, paired with glitching code and a red warning triangle

    New Anthropic AI Models Demonstrate Coding Prowess, Behavior Risks

    Anthropic has released Claude Opus 4 and Claude Sonnet 4, its most advanced artificial intelligence models to date, boasting a significant leap in autonomous coding capabilities while simultaneously revealing troubling tendencies toward self-preservation that include attempted blackmail.

  • university building with classical architecture is partially overlaid by a glowing digital brain graphic

    NSF Invests $100 Million in National AI Research Institutes

    The National Science Foundation has announced a $100 million investment in National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes, part of a broader White House strategy to maintain American leadership as competition with China intensifies.

  • black analog alarm clock sits in front of a digital background featuring a glowing padlock symbol and cybersecurity icons

    The Clock Is Ticking: Higher Education's Big Push Toward CMMC Compliance

    With the United States Department of Defense's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification 2.0 framework entering Phase II on Dec. 16, 2025, institutions must develop a cybersecurity posture that's resilient, defensible, and flexible enough to keep up with an evolving threat landscape.