Welcome to 5 Minute Briefing: Oracle an information resource prepared by Database Trends and Applications Magazine and published in cooperation with the Independent Oracle Users Group (IOUG). To subscribe, click here.

Database-Brothers Releases Oracle Tools and Innovative Pricing Scheme

Database-Brothers, Inc. (DBI), a supplier of database tools, has released a set of tools for the Oracle platform and has announced an innovative pricing strategy. On Friday, according to company founder, CEO and president Scott Hayes, DBI unveiled Brother-Eagle, Brother-Owl and Brother-Wolf, which are new versions of the tools that BMC Software had heretofore offered the Oracle community. “This is the second phase of our agreement with BMC,” Hayes said. Earlier, DBI released rebranded new versions of BMC database tools for the IBM DB2 platform.

Brother-Eagle is the replacement for DB-XRay BMC’s database activity monitoring tool. Instead of taking the whole screen, Brother-Eagles uses a stock ticker theme to display key database activity statistics. Brother-Owl, the new version of BMC’s SQL Explorer, is a SQL performance and analysis tool. Brother-Wolf is the new version of BMC’s space manager. “You can perform online reorgs without impacting the capabilities of the database,” Hayes said.

DBI has also announced a program that allows customers to name the terms, conditions and price they are willing to pay for database performance and auditing software. For the first time, a software company is allowing customers to proactively participate in the pricing and terms of licensing software with the introduction of DBI Bid. “It is like the airlines,” Hayes said. “We are the first software company to do this.”

Hayes hopes that the new pricing strategy will help eliminate laborious price negotiations. “It should shorten the selling cycle,” he said. Subject to capacity controls and current demand levels, customers can log on to www.softwarepricedright.com and bid to procure licenses for any available unsold software license "seats." Customers may choose from perpetual or term licenses, payment terms, service levels, and more. The Web site also includes bidding tips designed to help customers receive the deepest discounts. For more information about DBI, go here.

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GoldenGate Software Releases Veridata 2.0 for High-Speed Data Comparison and Manageability

GoldenGate Software, a leading provider of high availability and real-time data integration solutions, announced the availability of GoldenGate Veridata 2.0, which compares data between two active databases and identifies discrepancies for data quality assurance in compliance and auditing, acceptance testing for upgrades and migrations, and disaster tolerance solutions. GoldenGate Veridata is a high-speed, low impact data comparison engine that identifies and reports data discrepancies across databases, without impacting the availability or performance of the business applications that they support. The product currently supports Oracle-to-Oracle and HP NonStop-to-HP NonStop database comparison. “The key themes of the new release are usability, manageability and security,” Irem Radzik, director of product marketing at GoldenGate, told 5 Minute Briefing in a private interview at the time of the announcement.

Veridata 2.0 includes a new intuitive Web-based user interface that has improved support for typical navigation and workflow patterns. Other key new features include flexible reporting, which increases ease-of-use by refreshing automatically and providing new filtering capabilities. Role-based access has improved security, and new Web services communication between the Veridata Web and the Veridata server enhances manageability by allowing the monitoring of comparison jobs from other applications, making it a natural fit for service-oriented architectures (SOA). “It is more flexible to manage,” Radzik said. Fast mapping of large databases and the ability to run multiple comparison groups are also key enhancements in the new version.

"As more organizations strive to achieve compliance, the need for a product that can audit and verify data accuracy across applications is critical. With Veridata 2.0, customers are realizing benefits by reducing the amount of time and resources required to compare data, and decreasing their risk exposure by addressing potential problems before they negatively impact the business," said Sami Akbay, vice president of product management and marketing for GoldenGate. For more information, visit here.

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Embarcadero Releases New Eclipse SQL Development Tool
 
Embarcadero has unveiled PowerSQL, a new professional-grade SQL development tool, aimed at improving productivity for Eclipse application developers charged with SQL development. Embarcadero PowerSQL is the company’s fourth tool built on the Eclipse framework. It offers native support for Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, Sybase and DB2 for LUW, as well as JBDC support for other prominent DBMSs such as MySQL. PowerSQL runs on both Windows and Linux operating systems. 

With the new tool, Embarcadero is targeting application developers, those people who are usually coding in Java or C++ or Ruby on Rails, building applications that rely on an underlying database for their data retrieval, Greg Nerpouni, senior product manager, Embarcadero, told 5 Minute Briefing. “Typically those types of users are using their own IDEs for that type of development, IDEs such as the Eclipse IDE,” he said.

Embarcadero PowerSQL is a SQL IDE that can be installed as an Eclipse plug-in or as a standalone application (Eclipse RCP), said Nerpouni. “We've typically gone after the database developer, those who kind of live in the SQL world and code in SQL as they live and breathe each day,” noted Nerpouni. “As time goes on, we are finding that application developers are spending more and more time leveraging the underlying database but they are not necessarily familiar with SQL as a coding language.”

Key features of the new product include SQL Code Assist which ensures object name accuracy, even when not connected to a database, plus real-time SQL syntax validation; as well as SQL Project Insight, which provides project-level SQL file cataloging and search features to help streamline project organization and maintenance. The Migration Wizard imports data sources from Eclipse DTP (Data Tools Project) or Quest TOAD; and Data Source Explorer enables users to easily navigate, search, extract DDL, execute commands, and browse an outline view without opening the SQL file.

Nerpouni observed that many times application developers will pass SQL code off to a DBA for validation, testing and QA. Therefore, he said, the more power that can be put in the hands of the application developers to build quality and consistent code in the SQL world will increase their own productivity, but also benefit DBAs who themselves are increasingly being tasked with more issues around availability and performance of databases.

“Overall, what we really want to do is make the application developer be able to produce quality SQL code in a very productive way, leveraging an IDE that they would be very comfortable using - and that benefit for the organization as a whole is to make everybody more productive at their jobs, doing those jobs that they are actually being measured on,” said Nerpouni. Embarcadero PowerSQL can be purchased online here.  For more information, go here.

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Protection of Customer Data High Priority

Our friends at Tizor Systems shared this with us and it should come as no surprise. According to the February 2008 Forrester report, The State of Enterprise IT Security Adoption: 2007, the protection of customer data is a high priority for executives in American and European companies. In the survey of over 1,000 decision-makers at North American and European enterprises, 82 percent of the respondents said that "protection of customer data” is an important business objective in the next 12 months. And Gartner analysts have suggested that auditors and security teams should evaluate database activity monitoring technologies to mitigate the high levels of risk resulting from database vulnerabilities and to address audit findings in such areas as database segregation of duties (SOD) and change management. Earlier this week, Tizor released version 5.9 of Mantra, which the company says is the first product designed specifically for high-performance database monitoring and auditing.

Unisphere Research, our research arm, conducts proprietary studies of IT trends. To read abstracts of these studies, go here. Are you interested in having proprietary research conducted for your company about issues of concern to you? For more information, send an email to Tom@dbta.com.

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COLLABORATE 08 and Oracle’s Performance

Oracle reported earnings last week and most of the punditry described them as disappointing. We didn’t see it that way. While some deals may have slipped into the next quarter, new license sales continue to grow steadily. Moreover, Larry Ellison has a $2 billion line of credit to buy additional companies so the consolidation strategy remains in place. COLLABORATE 08 demonstrates the strength of Ellison’s strategy. The entire Oracle technology stack is on display and the entire community gets to interact with each other. Collaboration is a key factor in enterprise IT success and Oracle and COLLABORATE 08 foster just that. To follow trends in the industry, read the e-edition of Database Trends and Applications magazine here.

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Deadline to Save on COLLABORATE 08 – IOUG Forum is TOMORROW

The regular registration rate for COLLABORATE 08 – IOUG Forum, April 13-17 in Denver, CO, ends tomorrow, April 3. Register with the IOUG to save $200, have your name entered into a drawing for a Carnival Cruise for two and:

• Attend more than 425 education sessions across six tracks: Architecture, Business Intelligence/Warehousing, Database, Development, Fusion Middleware and Professional Development as well as two "super tracks" on Hyperion and Stellent.
  
• Extend your education by attending a full- or half-day University Seminar*.
  
• Hear from prominent leaders like Oracle President Charles E. Phillips and Andy Mendelsohn, Senior Vice President of Oracle Database Server Technologies during the Opening General Sessions. And, don't miss the recently-announced IOUG keynote, Dylan Tweney, Senior Editor of Wired News.
  
• Network with thousands of your Oracle peers during formal and informal events like the COLLABORATE 08 Welcome Reception, where you can mingle with attendees and meet face-to-face with leading Oracle solution providers, and Unconference Sessions - PowerPoint Free Zone, where you can discuss your most pressing business issues with your peers in an open forum.

Register today to save! Choose priority code EM10 during the demographic section (step 4) of the registration process for a chance to win a Carnival Cruise of your choice for two, valued at $1,000.

*University Seminars are not included within your conference registration. They are available for an additional fee.

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Attend COLLABORATE 08 – IOUG Forum for One-day Training

Enhance your Oracle knowledge by attending a full- or half-day University Seminar* at COLLABORATE 08 - IOUG Forum, April 13-17 in Denver, CO. University Seminars provide in-depth training in a relaxed environment, and you still have time to register. Attend more than 17 seminars ranging from database administration to RAC, such as:

• Developing New and Using Existing Web Services
  
• Putting Oracle Database 11g to Work - Oracle Database 11g New Features
  
• Implementing RAC
  
• Oracle Database Security in a Nutshell
  
• How to Use Oracle Business Intelligence to Solve Real-World Problems
  
• Introduction to Java
  
• PeopleSoft for the DBA: Performance Optimization

University Seminars are taking place Sunday, April 13 and Thursday, April 17. Make sure to register to extend your education. And, if you haven’t registered for the full conference yet, register today to save $200 and have your name entered into a raffle for a Carnival Cruise, valued at $1,000. Simply choose priority code EM10 during the demographic section (step 4) of the registration process.

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Network with IOUG Forum Attendees BEFORE the Conference

Are you an IOUG member who will be attending COLLABORATE 08 - IOUG Forum, April 13-17 in Denver, CO? Meet other Oracle professionals who will also be attending the conference by logging into the IOUG's new online collaboration tool: Oracle Professionals Exchange Network (OPEN).

This social networking tool will allow you to search for members by using the “Collaborator,” as well as join Wikis/Discussion Forums, allowing you to make valuable contacts with other attendees before the conference.

Login to OPEN today to meet and interact with other IOUG Forum attendees, who have similar interests as you.

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Submit Your Technical Tips for the IOUG’s Best Practices Booklet

The IOUG is currently accepting submissions for its third annual Best Practices Booklet of technical tips for Oracle professionals. If you have any best practices and tips for managing an Oracle Database, geared toward developers and DBAs, consider submitting today!

Share the tips and best practices you use in your work all the time—the code snippets and favorite queries you keep within easy reach. “Best practices” include acknowledged and sensible ways of carrying out an activity; “tips” illustrate how some activity could be done in a better way or reveal some undocumented or not-so-well-known feature.

Submissions should be 500-1,000 words long; due to space constraints, we ask that your submission have a specific focus, opposed to any overarching database principles. Submissions can range from beginning to advanced-level skills and should include the actual code and queries used (screenshots and other small graphics are also acceptable).

The submission deadline is May 15, 2008. This ever-popular booklet will mail with the Quarter 4 issue of SELECT Journal and will be distributed at Oracle OpenWorld in September 2008.
If you have any questions about submitting, please feel free to contact our Best Practices Booklet Coordinator, Theresa Rubinas, at select@ioug.org.

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Founded in 1993, the Independent Oracle Users Group (IOUG) (formerly International Oracle Users Group) is a user-driven membership organization for Oracle technology and database professionals serving more than 15,000 database administrators, developers, architects, technical managers and other Oracle professionals throughout North America and worldwide. The IOUG empowers its members and the broader Oracle community through their technical publication, SELECT Journal, Web site resources including more than 3000 papers, tips and articles and networking with other users through online discussion forums, Special Interest Groups and a network of regional Oracle user groups. For more information about the IOUG, please visit the IOUG Web site.

Database Trends and Applications, published by Unisphere Media, provides timely coverage of the technology and intelligence needed to conceptualize, plan, initiate, implement and manage large-scale integrated information projects. Unisphere Media also publishes 5 Minute Briefing: Data Integration, a summary of news, trends, and insights addressing crucial data integration challenges and 5 Minute Briefing: MultiValue, a review of news, technical tips and insights for the MultiValue database community. Visit our Web site here.

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