We performed a comparison between IBM DB2 Database and SAP HANA based on our users’ reviews in four categories. After reading the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: SAP HANA finishes ahead of IBM DB2 Database in this comparison. Users say SAP HANA fully controls workflows and makes almost every process automated. This improves productivity and saves time and money. The solution makes it easy to manage enterprise resources, which facilitates good company growth. Users say IBM DB2 Database has a very steep and long learning curve. It is very complex and many users feel it takes a long time to learn how to use it productively and properly.
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the integration with other IBM products."
"The most valuable feature of the IBM Db2 Database is security."
"Its functionality and availability are valuable. Its availability is great. It is available 99.99% of the time."
"The performance of the solution is valuable."
"Db2 Database has given us good results since we have started to use it. We predominantly use IBM hardware, and this is one of the reasons why we started to use Db2 Database. Db2 Database has a very good HADR capability. High availability resilience is also good in this solution. It also has pureScale, which allows you to upgrade one node to get very good and high-level resilience. If you are using a database on five nodes, you can take one node down, upgrade that, and let that node up. You can then bring the second node down, upgrade that, and so on."
"it is very stable and runs smoothly once it is deployed and it is almost maintenance-free."
"Db2 database scalability and performance capabilities match our database needs. It covers pretty much everything a database administrator or engineer might need."
"The most valuable features of this solution are security and stability."
"We appreciate that the current, redesigned version of this solution that is much more straightforward for new users, and has been well thought out with industry best practice standards in mind."
"We have found the solution to be customizable and it is beneficial it comes as a bundled package. Additionally, it is user-friendly."
"The initial setup is straightforward. It usually takes around eight months but it depends on a customer's requirements. We can spend a month or two customizing."
"The speed at which it gets the data is great."
"It is difficult for me to narrow down what the best features are in SAP HANA because they work together to provide the overall functionality of the solution. However, the Fiori application is very good."
"It's user-friendly so long as you use it frequently."
"The product's initial setup phase was really easy."
"The most valuable features are the flexibility and the integration with other solutions in data quality."
"The application development requires a Java developer and not every company has these resources."
"Microsoft SQL Server is comparatively very simple to use. I wish IBM would move towards making Db2 easy to use for both basic and advanced users. This is where I see room for advancement. Db2 is also more expensive than Microsoft SQL Server, and its price can be reduced. The replication feature needs to be there in Db2. Microsoft provides similar functionality in SQL Server. IBM also has similar functionality, but it exists in a different product. So, to have the replication ability, you have to buy a different product. It makes sense to have this functionality within Db2 instead of a different product. It will also be helpful in terms of competition. In Africa, the problem for Db2 is competition. Oracle Database and Microsoft SQL Server have been in this market for a very long time. These companies have built the ecosystem and the brand within this market for a very long time. So, they are very popular with users. Db2 or IBM came a little later in the game, and that's where the problem lies. They also don't do a lot of marketing for it, which is also a problem."
"The only drawback that we see in Db2 Database is the crash recovery. When there is a crash and somebody has to do the recovery, Db2 Database first stops, and then it does any crash recovery. In Oracle Database, crash recovery happens within the database. The database is not shut down."
"Also, the website could be more intuitive. I didn't find it easy to find documentation on the website."
"IBM's products tend to be quite costly, especially given the availability of free, open-source alternatives."
"It would be helpful to have more querying tools and more development tools for us to work easily with Microsoft."
"IBM Db2 Database could improve in the steps it takes for upgrades. It is not an easy process. The process of upgrading the version is lengthy and requires a lot of time. To make it more efficient, I suggest implementing some automation on the solution side. This will greatly reduce the time required for the upgrade."
"There could be more user-friendly tools with features such as drag-and-drop functionality, visual basics, and low-code capabilities."
"The solution needs to work on its performance and make it faster."
"The relationship with a partner that sells SAP could be better. We depend much more on our own development, and the partner is for selling us the solutions, so we need them to be able to supply help and answers. The partner isn't very helpful, and we have to rely on our own knowledge and research."
"The initial setup was very, very complex, tedious, and costly and required someone with great expertise to complete it."
"There's an issue in the partition. When you record more than two million records, partitioning does not work well. In Oracle it's easy. SAP must resolve this issue in order to be more competitive with Oracle."
"In a future release, SAP HANA should add a module for taxation, such as income tax and withholding tax."
"When you do a report on a non-SAP platform, you face some compatibility problems."
"The product is very demanding on memory requirements."
"I would like to see improvement on the feedback from the road-map; it is currently extremely hard to get insight in this area."
IBM Db2 Database is ranked 6th in Relational Databases Tools with 67 reviews while SAP HANA is ranked 3rd in Relational Databases Tools with 81 reviews. IBM Db2 Database is rated 8.2, while SAP HANA is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of IBM Db2 Database writes "Very scalable with high availability and excellent technical support". On the other hand, the top reviewer of SAP HANA writes "Excellent compatibility between modules and the control". IBM Db2 Database is most compared with SQL Server, Oracle Database, Teradata, MySQL and Oracle Database In-Memory, whereas SAP HANA is most compared with Oracle Database, SQL Server, MySQL, Apache Spark and SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise. See our IBM Db2 Database vs. SAP HANA report.
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