IBM has abandoned its quest for a simple means to enable users to access IMS and DB2 databases concurrently without needing to know where the data is stored. According to Computer Systems News, the setback means that users will have to maintain their IMS and DB2 databases as separate islands. IBM had been hoping to provide a means for IMS to use SQL to access data in DB2, but has now decided that the approach will be too difficult and expensive for customers to implement. The concept of the proposed SQLaccess would have translated IMS requests into SQL to provide a means for gaining answers to queries in seconds rather than the minutes or even hours it takes with present methods. The decision is likely to lead IBM to strengthen its push to make customers see DB2 as the strategic database product and encourage them to initiate a phased transfer of applications over to DB2.
