Switching from Sybase Means Saving Money, Boosting Performance

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Over time, for various technical and business reasons, Sybase has dropped out of

the top tier of enterprise database vendors. The company has responded by

broadening its appeal into mobile computing, the web, and consumers, etc.

However, many Sybase database customers question Sybase’s ability to make the

investments needed to keep Sybase competitive with other database platforms.

Sybase has made much of its TCO advantages over Oracle and IBM, but there are

clearly opportunities for Microsoft to present a strong value proposition to Sybase

customers that will persuade them that there is minimal risk and effort and

This report presents the results and analysis of a number of interviews conducted

with both end users and Microsoft consultants (both within Microsoft as well as

independent consultants) who migrated solutions from a Sybase environment

running on UNIX platforms to Microsoft SQL Server running in a Windows

environment. The interviews focused on several areas: costs (including costs for

hardware, operating systems, DBMS products, and personnel resources), migration

processes and tools, and migration challenges.

Sybase’s two major advantages as seen by those to whom we spoke –

performance (particularly for transaction-intensive financial applications) and

cost – have come under intense scrutiny of late. Throughout this report we

illustrate how the cost savings associated with moving to an SQL Server

environment on lower-cost Windows-based platforms can be significant,

particularly at the hardware level, which exhibited the bulk of these savings in

the user environments we studied. It is clear that the cost advantage enjoyed

by Sybase at one time over other UNIX competitors such as Oracle is largely

irrelevant in this context, and that Sybase is now perceived as the higher-cost

alternative when compared with Microsoft and its SQL Server offering.

Despite a high level of interest in Linux and other open source solutions,

Windows offers an attractive and viable operating system for the lower cost

hardware platforms that are increasingly being employed as an alternative to

UNIX servers. The users we interviewed who migrated Sybase databases and

applications from UNIX to Linux indicated that, while cost was a major

motivator in their migration decision, it was not clear to them if much savings

Executive Summary ...................................... 1

Report Methodology ..................................... 3

Introduction: The State of the Industry........ 3

Rationale and Experiences........................... 7

Summary and Conclusions ........................ 21

The Benefits of Migrating from Sybase to SQL Server Running on Windows Ser ver 2003

resulted from changing operating systems. In addition, some of those

interviewed who had started their Linux work on “freeware” versions from

vendors such as Red Hat were growing increasingly concerned over changing

licensing and maintenance policies from Linux suppliers.

From the product perspective, cost savings span all elements. However, most

users found that the greatest savings were tied to replacing relatively

expensive UNIX systems with servers that utilize processors from companies

such as Intel and AMD. Savings were realized both in the form of purchase

costs, and the costs associated with maintaining the systems. It is highly likely

that along with a lower cost structure, additional capacity and performance can

Cost was a major motivator for those users who considered migrating their

Sybase solutions to SQL Server on Windows. Other important considerations

included the perception of Sybase’s continued viability as a DBMS vendor and

the promise of achieving greater operational efficiencies from the DBMS

The benefits of a Sybase to SQL Server migration are numerous. While cost

played a significant (and in some cases, overriding) role in many user

decisions, the ability to leverage the .NET platform, coupled with a high level of

task automation, improved performance and scalability (particularly when

performing database consistency checks), robust system resource

management (primarily as a result of the tight integration between SQL Server

and Windows), and better business intelligence capabilities, were seen as real

There are a number of challenges associated with this type of migration. Some

stem from technical differences between the two products, accentuated by their

recent divergence from a common code base. Others are perceptual and act as

a hurdle for Microsoft as a vendor to overcome. Microsoft with its SQL Server

Migration Workshop Framework has addressed many of these challenges.

Ideas International (IDEAS) believes these types of migrations will increase over

time as the enterprise’s desire to lower costs and simplify IT environments

intensifies. To this end, Microsoft appears to have addressed many of the issues

inherent in migrating one of the most fundamental and supportive elements of the

IT solution (the DBMS). Recognizing that technical, organizational, and business

issues can make the migration from Sybase to SQL Server challenging, Microsoft

has built a comprehensive framework, including both process specifications and

tools that can help facilitate the transition. The framework helps automate and ease

many of the tasks associated with a migration effort (including data transformation,

leveraging existing UNIX-based scripts, and porting applications).

Perhaps of equal importance, the framework provides a testing and quality

assurance (QA) environment that enables Microsoft to demonstrate SQL Server’s

ability to perform and scale to a particular enterprise’s current and future needs.

Even today, overcoming a perceived lack of “enterprise readiness” is not a trivial

issue for Microsoft, and its consultants (both internal and third party) spend

significant effort on using Microsoft’s (and others) tools and processes to convince

prospects that their needs can be met. Our conversations with end users and

consultants supported Microsoft’s contention that SQL Server offers great

performance and is a highly scalable option for many current Sybase users.

The Benefits of Migrating from Sybase to SQL Ser ver Running on Windows Server 2003

We find Microsoft’s approach to this particular migration scenario both well

conceived and well implemented. It would not surprise us – once Microsoft gains

more experience in this area – if the company initiated similarly aggressive efforts

to apply its migration framework to other competitive database products. We

believe the interest on the part of enterprises to persist along a path of moving to

lower cost infrastructures, databases, and applications will continue with Microsoft

well positioned to exploit this interest in a big way.

Sybase to SQL Server Migration: Report Methodology

In this report, IDEAS analyzed the issues, factors, and cost considerations for end

users who migrated from Sybase implementations (and in some cases the

applications that use them) running on Windows platforms, to Microsoft’s SQL

Server running in a Windows environment. Both products are examples of database

management systems (DBMSs), which are generally used as the repository and

management infrastructures for the data and information required to conduct

operations, support business transactions, and give management and employees

In order to gain an understanding of the type and magnitude of cost savings and

technology-based advantages achievable via this type of migration, we conducted

customers who had made the migration from Sybase on UNIX to Sybase on

customers who had made the migration from Sybase on UNIX to SQL Server on

consultants who had taken part in engagements involving Sybase to SQL

After these interviews were completed, IDEAS analyzed and evaluated the cost

elements, organizational impact, and technology and business risk implications

associated with migrating to SQL Server. The feedback obtained from these

interviews was then used to develop insights into the motivations for embarking on

such migration efforts, the challenges that may be encountered, and the eventual

Cost-Cutting and Business Effectiveness Influence IT Decision-Making

There is little doubt that from a variety of perspectives the environment in which IT

professionals work has undergone some significant changes in recent years –

changes that persist today and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

These changes, which stem primarily from an increasing dependence on achieving

competitive advantage through IT skill and resources, are generally focused in

on to reduce the time and resources they use to build and maintain their

solutions, but the drive to lower IT costs (and all costs for that matter) has

gained even greater emphasis of late. As the importance of IT assets and their

The Benefits of Migrating from Sybase to SQL Server Running on Windows Ser ver 2003

effective application toward solving business problems grows, so will the ability

to establish a direct relationship between IT costs and an enterprise’s “bottom

line.” This forces a higher level of accountability in terms of what is spent,

where that spending is applied, and how the return on the investments is both

Growing the “Effectiveness” of Business Activities

apply resources in the most efficient way possible, organizations have been

placing greater emphasis on making their systems more effective in terms of

delivering greater business value. Choosing best practices, effective

methodologies, and highly productive tools can certainly allow for a more cost-

effective application of IT resources (human and otherwise) for the purpose of

building, deploying, maintaining, and managing infrastructures and

applications. But perhaps a more important consideration is, How are those

resources being used? What applications will be built (and in what priority),

given the limited resources and the direction the enterprise wishes to take the

business? How will systems and networks be deployed to most effectively

papers have been generated in recent years that describe at great length how

the role of the IT Manager is becoming more “business focused.” The CIO gets

most of the attention here, but in fact all IT professionals, and in particular their

managers, are finding that they are required to do their jobs with a keener eye

on business goals and considerations. IT priorities can no longer be set by a

group of developers and their supervisors, but rather must involve a line of

business managers, marketing professionals, and in some cases, executives.

The net result of these changes is the evolution of a new model for determining

investments and measuring their effectiveness. As IT and “the business” become

equal partners, both operational efficiency and business effectiveness become

extremely important, not only in deciding which projects are initiated and how

resources are used, but in determining the ROI associated with IT investments.

However, once decisions are made as to how to best leverage IT resources to

accomplish the goals of the business, the delivery of capabilities consistent with

the application of those resources must be done in the most effective way possible.

We have made the case here that cost-cutting is not the only (and maybe not even

the most important) driver of IT activities, but it is still one with high relevance that

There are, of course, many ways to cut IT costs. For instance, the right choice of

tools for software development, project management, and for the management of

applications, systems, and networks can have a significant impact on the efficiency

of IT workers. This can translate into being able to maintain existing activity levels

with fewer personnel, or into enabling existing personnel to spend their energies on

new application and systems development focused on growing the business (for a

healthy, growth-oriented business, the latter is the likely scenario).

There is also the opportunity to lower costs through a more efficient use of

hardware platforms, networks, and software solutions. One way to accomplish this

type of savings is through server consolidation, which typically involves migrating

The Benefits of Migrating from Sybase to SQL Ser ver Running on Windows Server 2003

applications from a number of relatively expensive midrange platforms running

UNIX or a more “proprietary” operating system, to less expensive, higher capacity

servers (which can also be UNIX-based but are increasingly including Windows-

and Linux-based systems). Another way is through a straight migration from a more

expensive platform to one that is less expensive to both purchase and operate – an

activity that may or may not involve consolidation. There is even a school of

thought, promoted by more than one major software vendor, that all IT activities

should be supported on inexpensive, “commodity” platforms that cost a few

thousand dollars apiece, whereby additional systems are added incrementally as

needed. All of these approaches have as their ultimate goal a reduction in the total

cost of ownership (TCO) of the hardware and systems (including the operating

systems) infrastructure within an organization.

The opportunity also exists to reduce the TCO of other software elements, including

the applications that support business functions, software development and

business process related tools, and databases. In some cases, the cost of

purchasing/licensing (and the cost of maintaining) these software products can be

reduced through the selection of alternative vendors and products.

The basis for the industry’s changing view of how IT investments should be

determined and measured – with a more pronounced focus on increasing business

(revenue and profit) opportunity – is founded in the ability to leverage new means

of interoperability. The purpose here is to bring IT assets to bear on relationships

between enterprises and the communities with which they must interact (customers,

business partners/suppliers, and others) via the web and other network types in a

more effective manner. What makes this enhanced degree of interoperability

possible is the creation and application of technology-based standards.

Most of the important standards activities today center around the interoperability

afforded through distributed, network-based implementations. The most visible and

popular manifestation of these is via web services, and even here, despite the

extreme need for convergence on standards, there have been a number of

organizations formed that focus on web services standards development that have

on occasion been in conflict with each other. However, what has been a common

thread, virtually by definition, is the use of XML as the basis for web services

interoperability. In fact, XML-based standards provide the underlying means of

messaging among web services, defining the services themselves, establishing a

secure environment based on identity and access management, and specifying

For transaction-based or data warehousing applications, support for XML in the

DBMS has become an important requirement as enterprises continue to work to

gain greater leverage from the web and web services, as well as the XML-based

messaging and transport technologies on which they are built. The more important

takeaway, however, is that XML is a particularly relevant example of the degree to

which standards foster interoperability and integration on a variety of levels today.

A DBMS migration decision of the type described in this paper must take into

account current and future requirements as they relate to standards, and in

particular, XML-based standards. Customers should only consider a database from

The Benefits of Migrating from Sybase to SQL Server Running on Windows Ser ver 2003

a vendor that currently demonstrates an adequate level of support and is committed

to enhancing that support as standards evolve. Microsoft has incorporated both

client- and server-side support into SQL Server 2000 and will be expanding this

support with additional features in SQL Server 2005. SQL Server’s viability as a

target migration database is therefore, in our opinion, clearly established from the

Another interesting, but very different approach to the subject of standards, is one

that examines the efforts within an organization to standardize on specific

technologies (platforms, operating systems, applications, etc.) in order to create

economies of scale in relation to TCO. It makes sense that the costs associated

with developing, maintaining, and managing applications and the infrastructural

elements on which they run will be lower if there are fewer “variants” with which

those involved in these activities must be proficient. An approach that allows an

enterprise to leverage common models for programming, security, and data, as well

as a highly integrated set of services, can permit an enterprise to reach its cost-

savings goals through a consolidation of skills and resources. Microsoft’s focus on

delivering a single platform (the Windows Server System) that can interoperate with

others puts it in a good position to exploit this cost-focused model.

As we noted earlier, lowering IT costs could potentially involve changing a variety

of elements that make up an organization’s IT infrastructure. We also noted that the

motivation for doing so is to create a ROI scenario in which the combination of

efficiency (cost savings) and effectiveness (increased business opportunity) make

While migrating a database, and the platforms on which it runs, can result in gains

in both efficiency (cost savings) and effectiveness (increased business

opportunity), the path to migration is not free. Most organizations that have been

around long enough to have established business patterns and practices that are

supported by their IT resources will have to take steps that are potentially

expensive and disruptive. For instance, new systems and software will need to be

purchased; although in the case of systems, organizations have the opportunity to

sell or redeploy the systems being replaced. The actual migration activity also

results in personnel costs, both direct and indirect (e.g., the opportunity costs

associated with a developer being diverted from bringing a new function online and

the resulting loss of cost reduction or revenue that results from the delay).

In many cases, however, there is a positive spin: New servers may involve an initial

purchase, but their costs may be at least partially recoverable through the sale or

repurposing of existing systems. Gains should also be achieved because these

systems will be cheaper to administer and maintain, and their performance should

exceed their cost profile relative to the servers they are replacing. The enterprise

should be able to note similar improvements in the operation of the software

products involved. Most importantly, the performance and availability improvements

achieved should allow the enterprise to greatly enhance its ability to grow revenue

and profits through greater access and value to the communities with which it must

The Benefits of Migrating from Sybase to SQL Ser ver Running on Windows Server 2003

Migrating Sybase Solutions on UNIX to SQL Server on Windows:

The Context – Making Database Applications More Efficient and Effective

The business drivers discussed above apply to virtually any solution type. Whether

they concern infrastructure (middleware, integration platforms, application servers,

and, of course, hardware platforms) or software applications, solutions and the

elements they are composed of must be chosen to optimize ROI, lower TCO, and in

general, make a direct impact on the company’s bottom line.

A major component of many solutions, of course, is the database, which augments

applications through its ability to store, access, and organize data and information.

The applications enterprises use to conduct business support transactions that

require access to information stored in these databases. These databases also

support data warehousing, making possible the access of the data required to

support business decisions, and to give management and other internal functions

the information they need, in a form useful to them and in a timely manner.

Databases are therefore considered one of the most important elements of an

application infrastructure for the enterprise.

The market for database management systems (DBMSs) is a mature one. As such,

it is dominated by a limited number of large vendors who offer general-purpose

products. Other vendors avoid competing directly with these dominant players by

providing specialized products tailored to specific application needs. The DBMS

decision is one that most enterprises have already made. Some have standardized

on a single vendor and product; still others may employ a few, with usage

segmented by division or department. DBMS products are well entrenched in

enterprise IT infrastructures and generally have a great deal of investment

(applications, support knowledge, and experience) associated with them.

A migration from one DBMS to another is therefore an important and significant

undertaking. The decision to migrate may result from a variety of considerations,

many of which we have touched on earlier in this report. The point here is that the

reasons for migrating must be strong in order to justify unseating an incumbent

In the remaining sections of this report, we explore those reasons, and the results

of several Sybase to Microsoft SQL Server migration efforts. The following sections

include examples of companies that have made the transition as well as insight

derived from Microsoft consultants who have assisted customers with their

Lower Cost Platforms – Windows (and Linux) versus UNIX

The attention being paid to open source solutions today is high, driven in great part

by the promises of both lower costs and higher product quality (the latter, a

potential result of the contributions by members of a broad and enthusiastic

developer community). It is fair to say that much of the success of open source has

stemmed from the increasing proliferation of Linux.

The Benefits of Migrating from Sybase to SQL Server Running on Windows Ser ver 2003

Today, many enterprises leverage a variety of platforms. Many are single vendor

options (AS400 systems are a good example), or are UNIX based. It is generally

recognized that these platforms offer both robust performance and reliability, as

well as strong levels of security and vendor support. However, these “enterprise”

characteristics and their suitability for what users see as their mission-critical

applications, come at what is generally seen to be higher cost relative to less

expensive options. For this reason, IT managers are increasingly looking to other

options to lower costs yet still retain the features and performance they need.

One of these options is to move to the Linux operating system, either on existing

UNIX servers, or on Intel-based machines. The attraction to this option is two-fold.

First, there is a perception that Linux is a less expensive operating system to

employ with regard to licensing and other costs. Second, despite early promises of

“openness,” UNIX vendors have made the technology their own, resulting in a level

of “lock in” that customers see as a negative.

Reality, however, tells a different story. The several users we interviewed who

migrated Sybase databases and applications from UNIX to Linux indicated that,

while cost was a major motivator in their migration decision, it was not clear to

them if much savings resulted from changing operating systems. Traditional

licensing models often package operating systems with the hardware, and while

there are maintenance costs associated with the overall platform, users were hard

pressed to articulate costs associated specifically with the operating system that

could be recovered by switching from UNIX to Linux (in all of these cases, the

migration involved new hardware platforms). In addition, some of those interviewed

who had started their Linux work on “freeware” versions from vendors such as Red

Hat were growing increasingly concerned over changing licensing and maintenance

policies from Linux suppliers. Finally, in some cases, Linux introduced training and

staffing costs (associated with development, performing the migration, and ongoing

administration), although given the similarities between Linux and UNIX these did

Enterprises require products that they can count on – as Linux establishes itself as

a viable enterprise operating system, users will look for the levels of predictability,

reliability, and support they have come to know in more traditional products. This

too comes at a cost, and while licensing and maintenance cost structures are in a

state of change at the present time, the industry will likely converge on a model

that suits both traditional, vendor-centric products and open source offerings.

Since hardware appears to represent the greatest portion of the savings associated

with migration activities, the most likely operating system choices are Linux and

Microsoft Windows. Because of similarities between the Linux and UNIX operating

systems, many see Linux as the logical migration platform when making this type of

change. In reality, the choice between Linux and Microsoft Windows depends on a

variety of factors. Cost is one, but as we have just pointed out, users are becoming

wary of claims of Linux cost savings. Security is another consideration, and while

some view Linux as more secure than Windows, it is questionable as to how much

of this view is based on perceptions set over recent Windows breaches. In fact,

perceptions of Microsoft’s security capabilities stem from problems with Windows

XP, whereas enterprise database applications would likely be deployed on

The Benefits of Migrating from Sybase to SQL Ser ver Running on Windows Server 2003

Windows Server System. At this point in time, we do not see a strong reason to opt

Another factor is simplicity. Linux/UNIX commonality notwithstanding, a Linux

approach requires bringing together the operating system, development tools,

database tools, and of course the database itself into a comprehensive solution.

This task is always more difficult than going to one vendor for all of the elements of

a solution – especially when the elements were designed to work together and

within the context of a common development and deployment framework. For

Microsoft, that common development and deployment framework is .NET – a

component of the Windows Server System specific to Web Services Development.

As we will discuss later in this report, users who migrated from Sybase on UNIX to

SQL Server on Windows found this solutions-based approach very attractive.

Migration Experiences – Costs and Cost Savings

As we discussed earlier in this report, the actual cost of performing a migration may

be an issue for some organizations. An examination of the existing environment

may uncover some issues that could have a significant impact on migration cost.

However, there are some “core” costs that enterprises will need to consider and

understand before beginning a migration project (in addition to the hardware and

software licensing costs discussed previously in this paper). Below, we examine

these costs using Manulife’s pension administration system migration as an

example. This particular project ran over a period of about nine months:

– Both DBAs and, in some cases, developers (especially in

cases where applications themselves will be migrated) will be involved in the

various tasks associated with a migration project. Manulife employed two DBAs

for its systems – one focused on query-related issues, the other on data

migration. Manulife needed to build an auditable process that allowed it to

verify that it had made an exact replica of its data (it used the data

transformation services provided with Microsoft’s framework to accomplish

this). Despite the involvement of these DBAs in other projects and tasks within

Manulife, they spent up to about 50% to 60% of their time during the project

period on the migration. In addition, one full time designer was kept busy

modifying applications built in PowerBuilder (and on issues involving readying

testing resources). Two people with expertise in testing were employed to

ensure that the data was moved correctly, and that applications and reports

were running as an exact match. A full time project manager oversaw the

activities of all involved. As we can see from Manulife’s experience, the costs

associated directly with the time spent by personnel – salaries, benefits, and

so on – can be a significant component of the overall cost of a migration. It

may be possible to estimate this cost component only after the project is fully

scoped (including, if applicable, the migration to a different hardware platform).

– Because a migration effort may involve skills that do not

currently exist within the IT organization, training may be required. This was

not a major expense for Manulife, since its personnel was highly experienced

(particularly with Sybase), and, as we noted earlier, similarities between

Sybase and SQL Server allowed for greater leverage of that experience. Still,

both DBAs needed to attend a five-day SQL Server course for a total cost of

about $5,000. Another $5,000 was spent on small desktop servers to support

The Benefits of Migrating from Sybase to SQL Server Running on Windows Ser ver 2003

their work. Ultimately, this cost will depend on the level of experience with

current and future technologies within the enterprise.

– These costs can be quite substantial, but

much more difficult to quantify. Still, enterprises should look carefully at what

they may lose as a result of diverting resources to a migration project. For

instance, the time DBAs, developers, and administrative and support personnel

spend migrating the database, applications, hardware, and operating systems

could be spent bringing new applications online that are intended to increase

business opportunity. Measuring how much business, if any, is lost during the

project period can be difficult to assess, but should be examined nonetheless.

A related cost, although one which the end users and Microsoft consultants we

spoke to felt was relatively easy to avoid, is the opportunity cost associated

with the downtime that results from transitioning from the old implementation to

the new. Depending on the circumstances, with proper planning (such as

performing the transition over a weekend, or running systems in parallel), this

cost can be greatly reduced, or even eliminated.

Our interviews revealed a number of areas where migration led to cost savings,

What is clear from our analysis is that it is difficult to separate

the individual costs associated with a Sybase on UNIX to SQL Server on Windows

migration from each other. As we have already seen, even if a migration does not

include a database change (in cases where Sybase is migrated from UNIX to Linux)

it is very difficult to separate the costs associated with the operating system from

those of the hardware. Changing the DBMS adds an additional variable, which

It is important, therefore, to examine carefully why users considered this type of

migration in the first place. The following examples provide insight into some of the

motivations behind these migration decisions.

Manulife Financial is a group of financial services companies based in Canada.

Operating worldwide, it offers a range of products focused on a variety of areas,

including wealth management. Manulife employs a pension administration system

that was developed originally by a company it acquired in the early 1990s. The

current product has been in full use since 1998, after about two years of

development. Manulife’s customer service representatives and plan administrators

use the system to manage the pension plans of the company’s clients; Manulife

also makes the system available to individual customers through web access for

the purposes of setting up investment profiles, checking account balances, making

address changes, and so on. Over time, the asset base the system was being used

to manage grew considerably – in fact, during the period beginning just before the

migration to today, the assets managed went from about $4 billion to about $7

billion (representing about 300,000 pension members). Therefore, one major

motivator for Manulife was to add capacity that would help it scale its solution over

time. This was viewed by Manulife as a deferred cost, i.e., by migrating its solution,

it could put off the investment it would need for additional systems over and above

The Benefits of Migrating from Sybase to SQL Ser ver Running on Windows Server 2003

Of course, another major motivator was the cost of purchasing and administering

the hardware and software associated with Manulife’s pension administration

system. A major metric for Manulife is the cost of offering administration services,

and at the time of the migration, Manulife’s costs were noticeably higher than those

of its major competitors. Cost reduction was seen as taking the form of the direct

costs associated with the systems and software themselves, as well as

Manulife’s systems resided in IBM Global Services’ datacenter in Toronto, with IBM

providing a pool of support personnel. From the standpoint of hardware and

operating systems, the application was on a “three-year refresh cycle,” where costs

were amortized on a monthly basis over the three-year period. The application

originally ran on two database servers (HP V-Class 9600 machines, each with eight

processors) – one for primary use, and the other for disaster recovery (this latter

server was also used for development). The hardware migration was to a similar

complement of servers – two IBM X400 SMP machines (incorporating Intel Xeon

technology), each with eight processors as well. The upfront cost of each HP

system was about $1 million; conversely, each of the IBM systems cost on the

While one can presume that higher capacity UNIX systems would be available for

purchase at the time of the migration versus the three years prior (or the same

capacity could be purchased for a lower cost), there would still be a significant

difference in the upfront cost of these alternatives. It should be emphasized,

however, that in some of the cases we studied, Sybase implementations were

deployed on large UNIX boxes that were “over speced” and “underutilized” for the

task. In such cases, the hardware migration takes on the nuance of server

consolidation, i.e., not only moving to a lower cost platform, but intelligently doing

so in a way that allows a reduction in the total number of systems (or processors)

Along these lines, some of the organizations we spoke with that migrated Sybase to

SQL Server with an accompanying hardware migration found alternative uses for

their UNIX systems. Others attempted to recover value by selling those systems.

Unfortunately, the latter scenario was not seen as a successful exercise for those

who had tried it. Residual values are low, and there are increasing numbers of used

UNIX servers on the market. Those considering similar changes should therefore

not count on justifying the associated ROI through the inclusion of an aggressive

recovery from the sale of their UNIX servers.

Another example where hardware costs drove, at least in part, this type of

migration is Merrill-Lynch. Merrill’s Private Client Group sought to consolidate

about 400 UNIX-based servers running Sybase. While this activity is currently

ongoing, this group has made some significant reductions not only in the cost of the

systems it uses (which are Windows-based), but also in their numbers. Another

financial services firm – Bank of America – also performed a Sybase to SQL Server

migration, in this case involving several hundred servers that included satellite

servers (organized in “replication tiers” that rolled up data into what were called

“core servers.”) While this environment presented complexities in terms of the

database and related applications (while the core servers were dedicated to