INFORMIX Philippines is extending full support to the Informix Users Group of the Philippines (IUGP), as it recently initiated a general assembly of its existing users and partners at the Acceed Conference Center in Makati City.

Informix Software Inc., based in Menlo Park, California, is a leading enterprise solutions provider and a major player in the e-commerce and database solutions industry.

Maxie Ventura, Informix marketing manager for the Philippines, said the local chapter of IUGP will be eventually affiliated to the International Informix Users Group based in the United States.

Aside from fostering an avenue for interaction among its users and partners, the IUGP, according to Ventura, will also serve as a forum where Informix users in the country can share common interests and explore networking opportunities. She cited the possibility of inviting experts to speak on different topics not only on new technologies or software development but even on personal development as well.

Special interest groups, she said, can also be formed as well as collaborative efforts to launch or participate in trade shows. Ventura reiterated the important role that such a group can play, particularly in providing a common network of resources and skills.

Informix Philippines aims to extend its full support to the users group in various ways, one of which is by providing mail and web servers for the IUGP communication and promotions. Informix may also provide speakers, venue and initially will be the link between IUGP and the Informix International Users Group.

Ventura stressed the need to form a membership and recruitment committee to encourage most, if not all Informix users in the Philippines to become active members. A steering committee will also be formed to review the IUGP by-laws and policies and recommend revisions or amendments. IUGP is already registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), since its initial formation in 1992.

Interestingly, Oscar Villadolid of SM Information Technology Services shared valuable tips during the first general assembly. Villadolid tackled how to address the problem on insufficient hard disk space through copying chunks of data in tapes or drives using mirroring.