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Statistics Firm Switches From Oracle To Postgres: Page 2 of 2

GenScape uses standard SQL, not Oracle's development tools' version of the data access language, PL/SQL, explained Delaney. EnterpriseDB officials claim Postgres Plus understands both, an Oracle-compatibility feature they have built into the system.

Genscape was acquired by UK information publisher Daily Mail and General Trust for $130 million in 2006.

Genscape is still an Oracle customer, running its financial transactions on Oracle systems, as well as its information management systems for the oil, coal and electric power industries.

Delaney said he will proceed cautiously to explore other uses of Postgres Plus Advanced Server at Genscape and may use it to replace Oracle in other information storing systems.

Genscape CIO Steve Akers, in announcing the switchover Wednesday, said his firm investigated an alternative to Oracle "because of spiraling database software costs The goal was to find a database that could meet our stringent requirements and also provide a low-cost alternative to what we had been using up that point." The option of "an easy migration of existing data" prompted the Postgres Plus decision, he said.

PostgreSQL is a 15-year-old successor to the Ingres database project at the University of California at Berkeley. EnterpriseDB in Westford, Mass., is one of several companies making use of PostgreSQL open source code. Another is Greenplum with its data warehouse system.

Postgres Plus Advanced Server subscriptions are priced at $4,996 per developer per year or $4,495 per server CPU socket per year. Use on a four-way server would result in a $17,980 a year subscription, which includes technical support and maintenance.