“IBM plans to ship DB2 Universal Database 7, the next version of
the company’s flagship database, in the first half of this year.
In preparation for the launch, IBM is offering application
service providers (ASP) new licensing programs and is spending $1
billion to bolster its data-management team.”
“Meanwhile, IBM says it plans to hire more than 500 database
developers and sales specialists. IBM did not disclose a time frame
for the new hires, but the effort is considered a direct shot at
Oracle, which stands atop the e-business database market.”
“The beta release of DB2 version 7 will be available for
download at http://www.ibm.com/software/data/db2/udb/v7/beta on or
before April 30. The product will be generally available in the
first half of this year on AIX, Solaris, HP-UX, Linux, Windows NT,
Windows 2000 and OS/2.”