Item: Toad Database Developer Tools
Rating: 7
Author: Aaron Baker

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Toad for Oracle is used to interact with data in our Oracle Utilities Suite databases. It is also used by our DBAs to support those databases. We perform DML and DDL functions with the tool. It allows us to run more than 1 query at a time against the same database, unlike other products.

Pros and Cons

It is user-friendly for the most part.
It has all of the features you expect from a tool like it.
It allows you to run more than one query against the same database at the same time.

The date/time settings in Toad are kind of difficult to figure out. I have to use an ALTER SESSION command to format the dates so I can actually query date/time fields.
It seems to be updated too often. I get notifications very frequently about new versions being available.
The export function is difficult to use.

Return on Investment

It gives us the flexibility to run multiple queries at a time against the same database.
It allows users a choice rather than just forcing everyone to use SQL Developer.
It's another tool that the DBAs have to support.

Alternatives Considered

Oracle SQL Developer

Toad for Oracle compares favorably to Oracle SQL Developer. I think it is mostly a matter of preference between our user base. I see some using Toad and others using SQL Developer. The one thing that Toad does which SQL Developer doesn't is running more than one query against the same database at the same time. That's the only big advantage I see.

Support Rating

It's a good tool. It does exactly what you expect it to do and has all the same features which other competitors offer. It's not prohibitively expensive for an IT organization either from what I understand. Otherwise, we would just select 1 tool over another and use that exclusively. Overall, you get what is promised.

Key Insights

Do you think Toad Database Developer Tools delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Toad Database Developer Tools's feature set?

Yes

Did Toad Database Developer Tools live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Toad Database Developer Tools go as expected?

I wasn't involved with the implementation phase

Would you buy Toad Database Developer Tools again?

Yes

Likelihood to Recommend

Toad for Oracle is well suited for anyone who knows how to write SQL well. It has all the features you want although they're sometimes difficult to find. Toad is less well-suited for people brand new to writing SQL. SQL Developer is a little more user-friendly in my opinion. If the UI were better designed, it would be easily better than SQL Developer.

A good alternative to Oracle SQL Developer

Overall Satisfaction with Toad for Oracle