All,
Although I have 5 years experience as an Oracle DBA, I am new to Data Modelling, which my new job requires that I do. We currently use PowerDesigner 8.0 and, since Sybase is ending its life, we need to either upgrade or move to another product.
Since we are an Oracle Partner, we (like most everyone) have free licenses for Designer for Development work.
Sybase, on the other hand, is coming out with version 11 in the August/September 2004 timeframe and will offer an upgrade from 8.0 to 10.0 for $1,200. I could then purchase the Upgrade Subscription plan for another $1,100 to take me to version 11. So, that comes out to about $2,300, and we are a small business, so money counts.
I have data models for our databases and reports for the models in PowerDesigner.
I can buy and learn from a book on Designer pretty easily, as well as learn from Oracle's OLN (Online Learning Network).
We use Oracle Database 9i as well as 9iAS (and will look at certifying our products with 10g later this year). We are also looking at MySQL for some of our smaller products which do not require the power of Oracle so would need to have support for MySQL as well.
What do you folks recommend?
Thanks very much for your assistance!
Jim