Re: Beginning of the end for SQR?

[Brian Murray <Brian.C.Murray@VANDERBILT.EDU>]

I remember a similar announcement and similar concern for SQR's future in a
PeopleSoft environment when PeopleSoft acquired an equity position in
Actuate.  30 seconds later many, myself included, were asking: are you
getting rid of SQR? should we convert all our SQR's to Actuate?  etc.

Well, we're still writing SQR's here so Actuate must not have been the
killer that we thought it was going to be.

SQR will be with us for a while and here's why:
1. PeopleSoft can't keep up with their planned enhancement curve, so there's
little chance that they'll have time or resource to go back and rewrite the
existing (semi-)working code base.

2. I've been working with SQR off an on for 8 years and I've repeated the
same pattern 4 or 5 times: 1)start developing a new series of reports in
Crystal/Impromptu/GUI report tool X; 2)discover that real report
requirements are more complicated then originally thought; 3)attempt to
squeeze/bastardize GUI tool to handle the most complex reports; 4)give up
and write the simple reports in Crystal/etc. and the most complex reports in
SQR.  Why?  Because, in the end, there are some reports that are going to
require a programming language to precisely meet customer requirements and
to meet them in a timely and efficient (performance-wise) manner.


The above is one persons opinion, but one who's been through this cycle
before.  I hate using SQR (I refer to it as the worst of COBOL plus the
worst of BASIC wrapped around a non-standard SQL syntax) and would love to
have a replacement, but, in a PeopleSoft shop anyway, it will be with us for
quite a while to come.


----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Clark" <PGCLARK@VAC-ACC.GC.CA>
To: <SQR-USERS@list.iex.net>
Sent: Monday, July 17, 2000 6:27 AM
Subject: Beginning of the end for SQR?


> We had already been considering this move but it looks like the decision
has been made for us.
>
> http://www.forbes.com/tool/html/99/Nov/1105/mu4.htm
>
> Cognos lands PeopleSoft deal
>

rest of announcement deleted



Brian Murray
Management Information Systems
Vanderbilt University