A blog by Oleg Shilovitsky
Information & Comments about Engineering and Manufacturing Software

PLM migrations and database wars

PLM migrations and database wars
Oleg
Oleg
22 August, 2012 | 2 min for reading

Migration. This is a word any IT and PDM/PLM manager is afraid to hear. In my view, it is one of the most painful things in enterprise software. The obvious reasons for migrations are related to IT infrastructure upgrades, need to move to the next PDM / PLM version and decision to switch to another vendor. The last one is not rare in the world or PDM/PLM mergers and acquisitions.

The core of any PDM/PLM system belongs to the database. Most of the systems in the market today are running on one of the available RDBS – Oracle, DB2, Microsoft SQL and maybe some others. Few days ago, I posted about PLM data models. PDM / PLM data model is part of any implementations. The way you handle it can make your migration process either smooth or nightmare. However, even the smoothest migration process is a complicated task that requires IT dedication and after-migration validation with customers. It takes time and cost money.

Recently, PLM vendors started to pay additional attention to the process of migration. Some of PLM vendors are including migration processes into their licensing terms by supporting to migrate from a previous version environment to a new one. SaaS /cloud vendors have the advantage of handling process of migration with limited exposure to end users.

The following article caught my attention few days ago – Oracle hurls MySQL at Microsoft database wobblers. Migration with a touch of Excel. The article represents an interesting perspective on database migration wars between Oracle and Microsoft. It resonated with potential migration problems customers may face when migrating between different PDM/PLM versions and/or products. The following passage emphasizes the importance of a smooth migration. It also presents the “competitive force” behind migration.

Under the latter category, Oracle is now throwing open source at Microsoft in the form of a migration tool to shift users off of Redmond’s latest database. Oracle new migration tools will move data from Microsoft SQL Server to MySQL, which Oracle bought from Sun. The tools come as part of the MySQL Workbench. Oracle claimed the migration tool would also shift database tables and data to MySQL and “quickly” convert existing apps. Oracle is also pushing its database as a back-end to Microsoft’s Excel.

What is my conclusion? The “data hostage” business is still a reality for database vendors and for many PDM / PLM providers too. I can see vendors will be more focused on how to reduce the hassle of data migration for customers. At the same time,  SaaS vendors will take an additional advantage of the cloud technologies to make migration process invisible for users. The target and demand of customers are how make information available. Just my thoughts…

Best, Oleg

Recent Posts

Also on BeyondPLM

4 6
30 September, 2017

Almost 2 years ago I asked a question – How many PDM systems SOLIDWORKS users need? I counted five PDM systems....

12 January, 2018

It’s a new year outside. The time is running fast and we are moving towards 2018 with new questions about...

9 July, 2012

I want to talk about the cloud today. However, I don’t want to speak about PLM cloud. I want to...

8 July, 2014

You’re only as strong as your weakest link. The article Are You Still Using FTP for CAD File Transfer? on Engineering.com...

12 April, 2012

Cost is one of the aspects all cloud PLM providers bring to the table these days. The demand and the...

26 March, 2018

To integrate PLM with other islands of information in manufacturing company, downstream applications and value chain is a big deal....

4 November, 2013

History of CAD and PLM development knows examples of home grown systems. 20-25 years ago, the idea to build their...

30 August, 2013

We love new technologies and trends. However, from time to time, I want to get back to basic topics of...

18 October, 2010

I was reading Jos Voskuil’s PLM Selection: Don’t do this on his virtualdutchman blog. Jos made me think again about...

Blogroll

To the top