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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Db2

    Score8.6 out of 10
    N/ADB2 is a family of relational database software solutions offered by IBM. It includes standard Db2 and Db2 Warehouse editions, either deployable on-cloud, or on-premise.

    $0

    Microsoft Excel

    Score9 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft Excel is a spreadsheet application available as part of Microsoft 365 (Office 365), or standalone, in cloud-based and on-premise editions.

    $6.99

    per month

    Pricing
    Db2Microsoft Excel
    Editions & Modules
    Db2 on Cloud Lite
    $0
    Db2 on Cloud Standard
    $99
    per month
    Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex One
    $898
    per month
    Db2 on Cloud Enterprise
    $946
    per month
    Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex for AWS
    2,957
    per month
    Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex
    $3,451
    per month
    Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex Performance
    13,651
    per month
    Db2 Warehouse on Cloud Flex Performance for AWS
    13,651
    per month
    Db2 Standard Edition
    Contact Sales
    Db2 Advanced Edition
    Contact Sales
    Excel with Microsoft 365
    $6.99
    per month
    Excel for 1 PC or Mac
    $139.99
    perpetual license
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Db2Microsoft Excel
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
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    User Ratings
    Db2Microsoft Excel
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.1
    (114 ratings)
    9.0
    (78 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.9
    (12 ratings)
    9.9
    (7 ratings)
    Usability
    8.5
    (9 ratings)
    8.5
    (23 ratings)
    Availability
    9.3
    (64 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Performance
    9.1
    (12 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.9
    (6 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    5.6
    (3 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Configurability
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Data Sources
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    7.8
    (4 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.3
    (66 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Db2Microsoft Excel
    Likelihood to Recommend
    IBM
    I have primarily used it as the basis for a SIS - but I have migrated more than a few systems from there database systems to DB2 (Filemaker, MySQL, etc.). DB2 does have a better structural approach, as opposed to Filemaker, which allows for more data consistency, but this can also lead to an inflexibility that can sometimes be counterintuitive when attempting to compensate for the flexibility of the work environment as Schools tend to have an all in one approach.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    I don't really know another program as powerful as Excel. I've used Google Doc programs but do not feel they come close. So far, anytime I've needed a table of some sort for data, whether it's budget oriented or information off a survey, the best system has been Excel. We do web audits on occasion and we create an Excel worksheet featuring every URL of the pages we're auditing, notes, data about the content, information about files attached to the page and other information to help us determine what pages need updating, deleting or otherwise. We also use Excel primarily to export our Google Analytics to in order for us to create reports for clients that need to see specific information about their traffic.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    IBM
    • While we query a large set of data, the results are generally available within a minute or so.
    • Always reliable - I have never experienced an application going down.
    • It is easy to write queries and find tables and columns.
    • We can log in smoothly without any headaches.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    • It is very good at embedded formulas and tying cells to one another
    • It allows me to compare deals terms on a side-by-side basis and talk my clients through it easily.
    • It is very helpful as well in terms of allowing me to filter/sort results in many different ways depending on what specific information I am most interested in prioritizing.
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    IBM
    • Learning curve for DB resources - Improvements to UI or native command line built-ins can help with increasing efficiencies for DB resources
    • Better resource utilization monitoring and recommendations
    • Continue to adopt support for modern frameworks and languages making it easier for organizations to see making Db2 the easy first choice
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    • Excel offers collaboration features that allow multiple users to work on the same spreadsheet, but managing changes made by different users can be challenging. Excel could improve its features by offering more granular control, better tracking of changes, and more robust conflict resolution tools.
    • Itcan be a barrier to productivity when importing and exporting data from other applications or file formats. To improve its features, it should offer better support for standard file formats and more robust error handling and reporting tools.
    • Excel can be challenging for finance students and working professionals, but it can be improved by offering more robust tutorials, better documentation, and more user communities and support forums.
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    IBM
    The DB2 database is a solid option for our school. We have been on this journey now for 3-4 years so we are still adapting to what it can do. We will renew our use of DB2 because we don’t see. Major need to change. Also, changing a main database in a school environment is a major project, so we’ll avoid that if possible.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    Excel remains the industry standard for spreadsheets and has maintained simple and straight-forward formula writing methods. Although there is a learning curve to do more complex calculations, there are countless help sites and videos on the Internet for almost any need.
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    IBM
    You have to be well versed in using the technology, not only from a GUI interface but from a command line interface to successfully use this software to its fullest.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    I'm giving it a 7 because it is my go to. But the fact other prefer Google Sheets when working with a team does get irritating. I've used the online version of Microsoft Excel that other teams can get into and it still seems behind Google Sheets. It's a little clanky and slow? If that's even a term.
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    IBM
    I have never had DB2 go down unexpectedly. It just works solidly every day. When I look at the logs, sometimes DB2 has figured out there was a need to build an index. Instead of waiting for me to do it, the database automatically created the index for me. At my current company, we have had zero issues for the past 8 years. We have upgrade the server 3 times and upgraded the OS each time and the only thing we saw was that DB2 got better and faster. It is simply amazing.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    I have rarely, if ever, had issues with its availability.
    Incentivized
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    Performance
    IBM
    The performances are exceptional if you take care to maintain the database. It is a very powerful tool and at the same time very easy to use. In our installation, we expect a DB machine on the mainframe with access to the database through ODBC connectors directly from branch servers, with fabulous end users experience.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    Excel load and performs calculations immediately. It integrate well with all Microsoft Office applications and does not slow them down.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    IBM
    Easily the best product support team. :) Whenever we have questions, they have answered those in a timely manner and we like how they go above and beyond to help.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    I have not had to use it often, but it is good.
    Incentivized
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    In-Person Training
    IBM
    the material was very clear and all subjects have been handled
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    IBM
    db2 work well with the application, also the replication tool can keep it up
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    IBM
    DB2 was more scalable and easily configurable than other products we evaluated and short listed in terms of functionality and pricing. IBM also had a good demo on premise and provided us a sandbox experience to test out and play with the product and DB2 at that time came out better than other similar products.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    Out of Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Power BI, IBM SPSS, and Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel is by far the most common tool used for anything data-related across organizations. Accordingly, our organization has also implemented Microsoft Excel as a first-step tool. We recently adopted Microsoft Power BI (the free version), and use it occasionally (mostly for creating dashboards), but it is less commonly understood by stakeholders across our organization and by our clients. Accordingly, Microsoft Excel is more user-friendly and because of its popularity, we can easily look up how to do things in the program online. Google Sheets is a comparable alternative to Microsoft Excel, but because it's cloud-based and we have sensitive data that needs to be protected, we chose against using this software. Finally, a few users (including myself) have access to and utilize IBM's SPSS. For my role, it's a helpful tool to do more rigorous analyses. However, because of its cost and limited functionality as a simple spreadsheet, we only use it for more complex analyses.
    Incentivized
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    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    N/A I was not involved in this process.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    IBM
    By
    using DB2 only to support my IzPCA activities, my knowledge here
    is somewhat limited.

    Anyway,
    from what I was able to understand, DB2 is extremely scallable.

    Maybe the information below could serve as an example of scalability.
    Customer have an huge mainframe environment, 13x z15 CECs, around
    80 LPARs, and maybe more than 50 Sysplexes (I am not totally sure about this
    last figure...)

    Today
    we have 7 IzPCA
    databases, each one in a distinct Syplex.

    Plans
    are underway to have, at the end, an small LPAR, with only one DB2 sub-system,
    and with only one database, then transmit the data from a lot of other LPARs,
    and then process all the data in this only one database.



    The
    IzPCA collect process (read the data received, manipulate it, and insert rows
    in the tables) today is a huge process, demanding many elapsed
    hours, and lots of CPU.

    Almost
    100% of the tables are PBR type, insert jobs run in parallel, but in 4 of the 7
    database, it is a really a huge and long process.



    Combining
    the INSERTs loads from the 7 databases in only one will be impossible.......,,,,



    But,
    IzPCA recently introduced a new feature, called "Continuous
    Collector"
    .
    By
    using that feature, small amounts of data will be transmited to the central
    LPAR at every 5 minutes (or even less), processed immediately,in
    a short period of time, and with small use of CPU,
    instead of one or two transmissions by day, of very large amounts of data and
    the corresponding collect jobs occurring only once or twice a day, with long
    elapsed times, and huge comsumption of CPU



    I
    suspect the total CPU seconds consumed will be more or less the same in
    both cases, but in the new method it will occur in small bursts
    many times a day!!
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    Each user can use it to whatever level of expertise they have. It remains the same so users can contribute to another's work regardless of whether they have more or less expertise
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    IBM
    • Negative: Difficult and manual deployment
    • Negative: Missing assistants from common monitoring metrics
    • Positive: Stability
    • Positive: Performance
    • Positive: Resiliency and high availability (HADR)
    • Positive: Data Replication (Q-Rep)
    • Positive: Interaction with storage subsystems for backups (TSM, SVC)
    • Positive: Gigantic monitoring features in the form of table functions
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    • Excel has positively impacted the business as it has increased our efficiency.
    • It also saves us the time that we would have spent on making the calculations that it does for us.
    • Since it works on all devices and is compatible with both Windows and Mac, we do not have to invest in any other alternative.
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Db2 Screenshots

    Screenshot of Db2 - Data sharingScreenshot of Db2 - Machine LearningScreenshot of Db2 - Real time insights