What Users Say About ei-O

Paul Smith, MS-Access Developer, Major U.S. Independent Automotive Equipment Retailer.

The Challenge:

Paul's company needed to migrate Microsoft Access databases to IBM's DB2 in order to move critical data from a text-based web site on its Solaris/Apache application server to a database website running IBM's Websphere/DB2.

At our web site, we have to deliver the price and descriptions of thousands of products. We have to update prices daily and we have to update product descriptions continuously. We needed the ability to keep information on the web site accurate.

We use MS-Access as a staging area that gathers and validates data from various sources. We needed a product that could get our Access data to IBM's DB2 on an ongoing basis.

The Solution:

Bunker Hill's ei-O product fit the bill. We called in our order, downloaded the ei-O software, installed it, ran it, and we had a DB2 database immediately. The Bunker Hill product got the job done in 2 hours!

Here's the thing. ei-O generated source code that we cut-and-pasted to automate the migration process from Access to DB2. By cutting and pasting ei-O source code we could implement an automated nightly schedule from Access to our web sites run on DB2.

The way ei-O worked was excellent. It really met the need we were looking for and it met it within a reasonable time frame. In addition, Bunker Hill's technical support was outstanding.

Renee Guilmette, Development Manager, State Government (East Coast).

The challenge:

As the data processing center for the state, Renee's division provides IT and Internet services for numerous client agencies. Renee herself is overseeing the design and development of new database applications for these client agencies.

There is always the danger of the tool being harder to use than the problem you are trying to solve. I was contemplating using [other products] on the developers' machines so that it would be easy to migrate data up to production without a big hassle.

The solution

ei-O really worked because our programmers were already familiar with Access. It's great that the programmers can continue to use Access because it's easy to migrate data into a UDB database.

The feedback I got from my developers was that it was extremely easy to use and they thought it was a well-written product. They basically gave it rave reviews.

Renee's team agrees:

It's easy to design databases in Access and port them to DB2 using ei-O.

ei-O creates a DB2 data definition I can ship off to the database people.

The product is extremely easy to use and the interface is nice.

Ron Schultz, Senior VP, Technology, Independent Software Vendor.

The challenge

Ron's company needed to model a generalized database system for configuring its software products. They needed to prototype in MS Access, and then deploy the database in Websphere/DB2.

Basically, we were trying to build a new parameter system as a database metamodel. We were specifically interested in the identification of referential integrity and the creation of triggers. We realized that ei-O also had all that capability with it.

The solution

The person responsible for building the metamodel was very familiar with Microsoft Access.  With ei-O, he was able to immediately start prototyping the system, adding a whole lot of different features and functions.

The biggest bang for our buck was the automatic creation of triggers. That made a big difference, because this particular system has over a hundred triggers. We brought ei-O in, and it worked flawlessly. It created a lot of those triggers for us automatically, or it put the templates in, and laid it all out for us. Basically our expectations were exceeded. 

It easily saved us four weeks worth of work just using ei-O once.  We used it on another system and it saved us three weeks' worth of work there, so our cost recovery was the first week of use.

I have been very pleased with ei-O; it's an excellent hammer...

Mike Friedrich, systems support and database administration, State Government (Midwest)

The challenge

Mike's group installs and manages mainframe and NT server systems for the state's revenue department. They needed to help developers migrate and consolidate applications from diverse desktop platforms to the department's IBM DB2 standard.

Our developers are creating their applications in Visual Basic, using Microsoft Access as the database. The problem was that they started getting a larger number of applications with more than just a few users.  At one point, they were even trying use Microsoft Access for 150 users!

We already had DB2 on NT for another project, so we were ready to help these developers standardize on DB2. Our goal was helping them to take their data out of applications like Access, FoxPro, and dBase IV and migrate it to DB2.  I was looking for a tool that helped them move over to DB2 with the least amount of difficulty.

The solution

We found out about Bunker Hill products by going to the IBM DB2 web site.  We found ei-O, downloaded it, and used it right away.

We use ei-O to take our developers' Access database designs and set it up so they can follow our naming standards for DB2. ei-O allows Access developers to take their Access table naming standards, and re-name their objects as they like.  ei-O allows the developers to rename their objects, yet keep the old, familiar names as well so they don't have to modify their program code. To keep the programs running, we just create a view on top so we had the old names.  It works extremely well.