Published on 20-Nov-2006
Validated on 04 Mar 2009
"The number one reason we moved to DB2 9 is cost savings. We were spending a lot on licenses with MySQL -- and DB2 9 Express-C 9 is free. In addition, we feel much better about the short- and long-term support that we get from IBM for the DB2 platform -- and being able to pass that on to our customers. Our clients feel much more comfortable with DB2, knowing it's backed by IBM." - Mark Lindsay, vice president of sales, Makau Corporation
Customer:
Brigham Young University
Industry:
Education
Deployment country:
United States
Solution:
Autonomic Computing, Express, Infrastructure Simplification, Learning and Training, Workload Management
IBM Business Partner:
Makau Corporation
Overview
Makau Corporation has converted its applications from MySQL database to IBM DB2 9 to provide customers with greater scalability and optimal performance.
Business need:
Makau, an IBM Business Partner, needed to save costs on licensing fees.
Solution:
Makau ported its application to run on the IBM and Novell Integrated Stack for Suse Linux Enterprise, including DB2 Express-C 9 and WebSphere Application Server. Brigham Young University also will migrate to DB2 9.
Results:
o Makau no longer will incur database licensing fees, saving hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Benefits:
Makau now allows its customers to:
o Scale their applications
o Store, search and retrieve data faster
o Allow the database to manage itself
Case Study
Challenge
Makau Learning Appliance features a library of more than 300 courses with a built-in learning management system that tracks student progress and improves course administration. Makau wanted to reduce licensing costs it paid to build its solution on MySQL. By converting to IBM DB2 9, Makau saved about $75,000 in MySQL and Windows server licensing fees, a 30 percent reduction, for its solutions.
Makau is an IBM Business Partner based in Orem, Utah. Makau offers enterprise-wide, 24 x 7 delivery of custom courses in partnership with training professionals. It combines advanced e-learning with traditional on-site workshops.
Solution
Makau ported its complete application suite to run on the IBM and Novell Integrated Stack for Suse Linux™ Enterprise (ISSLE), including DB2 Express-C 9 and WebSphere Application Server Community Edition running on IBM System x™ servers. The IBM DB2 9 Data Server serves large and small customers, and DB2 9 Express-C 9 is available free of charge for all to use, deploy and distribute upon registration by the IBM Business Partner.
Makau will no longer incur any database licensing fees, saving the company hundreds of thousands of dollars. The move also allays client concerns about maintenance because of the flexibility to purchase DB2 Express for commercial IBM support or seamlessly upgrade to a more powerful version of DB2 without making any application or database changes.
Brigham Young University will be one of the first customers to migrate its Makau solution to DB2 9.
Benefits
Makau now allows its customers to:
• Scale their applications as content size and usage grows
• Store, search and retrieve course data faster and more efficiently
• Leverage autonomic functionality that allows the database to manage itself
• Run the solution on a Windows or Linux server—and choose Linux when security, reliability and lower costs matter.
Products and services used
IBM products and services that were used in this case study.
Hardware:
System x
Software:
DB2 9 for Linux, UNIX and Windows, WebSphere Application Server Community Edition
Operating system:
Linux
Footnotes and legal information
The information contained in this documentation is provided for information purposes only. While efforts were made to verify the completeness and accuracy of the information contained in this documentation, it is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind, expresses or implied. In addition, this information is based on IBM’s current product plans and strategy, which are subject to change by IBM without notice. IBM shall not be responsible for any damages arising out of the use of, or otherwise related to, this documentation or any other documentation. Nothing contained in this documentation is intended to, nor shall have the effect of, creating any warranties or representations from IBM (or its suppliers or licensors), or altering the terms and conditions of the applicable license agreement governing the use of IBM software.
Copyright IBM Corporation 2006
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Produced in the
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11-06
All Rights Reserved
International Business Machines Corporation, the IBM logo, DB2, WebSphere and System x are trademarks or registered trademarks of IBM Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.
Linux is a trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States, other countries or both.
Other company product or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.
