Every issue of DBMS includes reviews, descriptions, and insights into the products that make database application development possible (and sometimes even fun). And every year, DBMS readers speak their minds by voting for their favorite products. The winners of the DBMS 1997 Readers' Choice Awards have proven that they can solve real business and technical problems for large enterprises.
OracleOracle7 and now Oracle8 continue to maintain strong loyalty within DBMS's readership. Oracle's RDBMS supports large numbers of users, high volumes of transactions, very large databases, and continuous availability. Oracle8's performance enhancements such as partitioning and more efficient connection management should keep Oracle the leader for OLTP systems. As electronic commerce transactions flood corporate database servers, Oracle's dominance in the OLTP market bodes well for this database giant.
OracleOracle wins this new award for database servers for decision support. By supporting very large databases, bit-mapped indexes, star query optimization, and advanced parallel features, Oracle has proven its popularity for demanding data warehouse and data mart applications.
ObjectStoreObjectStore is a mature ODBMS that has won previous DBMS Readers' Choice Awards. The ObjectStore 5.0 ODBMS server provides interfaces for Java, ActiveX, and C++. The small footprint ObjectStore PSE Pro for Java is bundled with several products, most recently Sun's Java Workshop.
OracleOracle7 version 7.3 placed the Oracle RDBMS at the center of Oracle's Universal Server. No longer content to store tabular data alone, Oracle delivers specialized servers such as ConText for intelligent management of text data and the Oracle Video Server. Now, Oracle Data Cartridges provide another means to support complex datatypes within the Oracle environment.
Visual Basic Visual Basic revolutionized Windows development when it first appeared. But Visual Basic didn't gain built-in database application development features until version 3.0. Today's Visual Basic is a mature and increasingly powerful tool for building enterprise applications, especially when combined with Microsoft's newest Back Office companions such as the Microsoft Transaction Server and the Microsoft Message Queue Server.
No Winner!
The Java and Web development tools market is still up for grabs, at least for database developers who need to build applications that are a little more sophisticated than a fancy dancing icon. DBMS readers voted for numerous products, but no one product garnered enough votes to surpass its competitors. When major technological shifts occur, developers often try several products before settling in with a preferred choice, so let's see what happens in this category next year.
Oracle Applications Given the strong position Oracle's database server has among DBMS readers, it's not surprising to see that Oracle Applications also find their way into many DBMS readers' environments. The Oracle Applications product line includes more than 30 integrated modules for financial management, human resources, manufacturing, supply chain management, project tracking and accounting, and sales force automation.
Crystal Reports Crystal Reports has long been a favorite among DBMS readers. It is bundled with more than 100 application development tools, including Microsoft's Visual Basic. Crystal Reports accesses dozens of data sources, and its engine can be incorporated into custom applications using a variety of interfaces. The newest upgrade (Version 6.0) adds support for Web reporting so users can display and print reports accessed by a Web browser.
ERwinThe ERwin product family of database design tools is once again a favorite CASE tool among DBMS readers. ERwin provides sophisticated modeling, schema generation, reverse engineering, and application development tool integration features. Logic Works is now extending its product family to support modeling of complex data stored in Universal Servers.
PVCS Series "Oops! That 'fix' didn't work too well! Where's the previous version of this program?" This happens to everyone, but DBMS readers who rely on Intersolv's PVCS version control and configuration management solution need not worry. With browser-based applications, HTML pages play an increasing role in today's applications, so a solid version control system is as essential as ever.
AccessAccess is unquestionably the most popular database manager for end users. Being included in Microsoft Office certainly helps, but that only gives users the opportunity to use Access. Recent upgrades have made great strides in ease of use: many formerly complex multistep procedures are now simpler and quicker. Access also remains a popular front-end development tool used by developers.
BusinessObjectsIf data is not analyzed, then it won't be useful. BusinessObjects is a leading query, reporting, and analysis tool that is powerful yet easy to use. It can be used with operational databases, data warehouses or marts, and now within Web browsers. The newest version (4.1) of BusinessObjects features intelligent agents that notify users when changes occur in a database.
SQL Enterprise Manager Historically, most administration tools provided by RDBMS vendors left a lot to be desired, so third-party tools were often called in to substitute. When Microsoft rolled out its version of SQL Server, one of the first enhancements Microsoft added was a graphical administration tool. Over the years, Microsoft's SQL Enterprise Manager has matured into a powerful and popular utility that makes running a complex DBMS easy.
Unicenter TNG Managing a large enterprise's diverse computing resources is challenging to say the least, but CA-Unicenter TNG, a sophisticated and extensible systems management environment, makes it possible. CA-Unicenter TNG manages a broad array of resources including networks, applications, databases, and desktops across multiple operating systems. It also maintains security, monitors events, controls software distribution and updates, and much more.
SQL Net AND
ODBCMiddleware is often an unsung hero of database applications. Despite its critical role, it should be transparent to end users, and ideally a seamless aspect of the application development process. Oracle bundles the standard version of SQL Net with its popular RDBMS. Microsoft's ODBC is ubiquitous: Virtually all data sources have an ODBC driver (including many nonrelational data sources), and virtually all development tools support it.
TuxedoThe use of transaction processing (TP) monitors to support large-scale client/server OLTP applications was an early manifestation of multitier application design. Tuxedo is a popular TP monitor that runs on various Unix platforms as well as Windows NT. Today Tuxedo does more than manage transactions: it also monitors applications, administers security, and handles messaging, among other things.
VisiBrokerAn Object Request Broker (ORB) is the nervous system of many large-scale distributed systems. Since acquiring PostModern Computing and its ORB, Visigenic has achieved a commanding position in the ORB market. VisiBroker's support for Web technologies such as Java and IIOP has led a stellar group of partners (Netscape, Novell, Oracle, Sybase, Borland, and Hitachi) to bundle VisiBroker with their own products.
Teradata RDBMS Data warehouse databases are growing at a phenomenal pace -- so much so that terms like petabyte are entering daily usage. Teradata began shipping a parallel DBMS in 1984, long before parallel support became common in high end RDBMSs. Teradata's time-tested database server is now a popular engine for large data warehouses.
ERwinModern development products are complex, and technical support is more important than ever. Even great products raise a question or two every now and then. DBMS readers have chosen Logic Works' ERwin as a favorite CASE tool, and now they have also singled out the company's outstanding technical support.
ERwinDatabase developers were showered with new and upgraded products over the last year, but DBMS readers selected the latest and greatest ERwin as the one they find most valuable. ERwin 3.0 now differentiates between logical and physical models. The latest upgrade sports an improved user interface and a host of practical enhancements such as support for views.
Joe Celko
The following categories were on the ballot, but too few readers voted, so no award will be made: