Brian Peterson writes: >I would think that once one understands how large an undertaking cloning a
>DB2 environment is, then one could assess the value proposition of utilizing a >tool to assist in the process. As pointed out below, IBM offers a tool, and I >think there are several third party vendor alternatives as well. I agree. And whether a tool makes sense or not depends on several factors, among them: 1. Regulatory compliance (present and future). In some countries, the choice is made for you due to laws and regulations concerning corporate information governance. You might have to prove to the regulators (and their agents, i.e. corporate management) that you actually have a true and correct clone, and (if applicable) that only authorized individuals altered the information, and that you know precisely what was altered, when, and by whom. Much here will depend on what you're cloning. If it's cookie recipies and you're an automobile company, maybe not so critical. :-) 2. Price of the tool, including ongoing maintenance and (probably most importantly) contract terms. (Natch.) 3. Price (or opportunity cost) of labor. Labor is not free and is getting more expensive over time. 4. Amount of labor to test, implement, and use the tool (over a period of years, probably). 5. Amount of labor to design, write, test, implement, and use an in-house custom cloning solution (over the same period). 6. Risk adjustments. For example, what are the relative chances of getting the clone(s) "wrong," and what business impact (and cost) would that have? Usually these aren't automotive cookie recipies in these databases. 7. Additional benefits. Does the tool serve broader needs than the in-house coding? 8. Blame shifting (a type of "politics"). If you (named human being) write it, you may own any and all grief that comes, deserved or not. :-) 9. Cost of money (the company's internal interest rate). 10. Budgetary considerations. Tool licenses usually come out of capital budgets while in-house coding is usually in the expense budget, and that accounting difference alone can be huge (different tax treatment, depreciation, etc.) 11. Relative performance. In the age of zIIP, especially, there could be a resulting cost differential. 12. Time to completion. Is there a business requirement to complete the clone within X period of time? Will the chosen method continue to meet any window into the future (since databases usually grow)? Everybody will have different inputs into this sort of analysis, but it's important to do the analysis (and reasonably well). - - - - - Timothy Sipples IBM Consulting Enterprise Software Architect Specializing in Software Architectures Related to System z Based in Tokyo, Serving IBM Japan and IBM Asia-Pacific E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
