Has allowed my teams of developers to transfer data quickly and easily from SQL databases into Oracle databases.
What is most valuable?
As an administrator the most valuable tools are the Admin client and IBM Information Server. These tools allow me to create and maintain projects as well as create and maintain user security.
How has it helped my organization?
This application has allowed my teams of developers to transfer data quickly and easily from SQL databases into Oracle databases. The application also allows my teams to easily create and run batch jobs.
What needs improvement?
As an administrator I would appreciate a more condensed installation guide. The amount of information is overwhelming for the install. With all the necessary installation steps spread out over multiple web forms installation is difficult the first time. It would also be helpful for the educational assistant links to be linked to the directions relevant to those steps. It is very time consuming to search for a tutorial relevant to the specific step of the install.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have supported this tool within my company for two and a half years. We previously used version 8.1 and last year upgraded to version 8.7.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
I did encounter issues during the install. For most issues the concierge service only sent me links to documentation I already had. Once I was given a dedicated resource to assist in troubleshooting the level of support was great.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Yes we have encountered issues with stability. After a successful import and compile of all of our jobs, they would have a “Not compiled” status in Director. Our IBM resource stated we would need to change the odbc file to list a default parameter. This seems to be a common issue with this product, however, I could not find this detailed in the installation documentation. We have also noticed that the tnsnames entry for the oracle database does not connect properly using the full database naming convention. However, when setting up connections to other databases the full path can be used.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
No, we have found the product to be very scalable for our company’s purposes.
How are customer service and support?
Customer Service: I have only requested support twice and each time support was very good once I was given a dedicated resource.Technical Support: The support is very good once given a dedicated resource. It is difficult to get a dedicated resource when first requested. The initial response is a link to documentation. This would be helpful to others who have not gone through the documentation but a little frustrating when submitting a support issue after going through the documentation.
How was the initial setup?
Initial setup was complex. The documentation is not very straightforward and a little difficult to navigate. Because of the large choice of installation options it would be helpful to be able to filter more on the specific architecture being used for each install. It would also be helpful to have links to the Education Assistant included in the sections that are relevant to that section.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented through an in-house team, which consisted of our DBA and myself.
What other advice do I have?
My advice would be to review all relevant installation documentation in advance. Bookmark the relevant pages as well as the Education Assistant tutorials relevant to your install. If this is the first install engage a vendor team.
*Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
