International Informix Users Group

What International Informix Users Group does

The International Informix Users Group (IIUG) is an independent, non-profit volunteer organization that serves as the central community body for users of IBM Informix (and HCL Informix) database technology worldwide. Its core activity is operating community infrastructure — a free membership program (membership database exceeds 25,000 entries), the monthly IIUG Insider newsletter, a TechTalks webinar series with recordings on YouTube (119+ videos, 584+ subscribers, 26,687+ views), a software repository, a historical knowledge library, a community forum hosted on the IBM platform, RFE (Request for Enhancement) advocacy, and a network of local user groups including dedicated German (Deutsche) and Spanish (Español) international chapters. IIUG does not develop proprietary technology; its underlying stack comprises common off-the-shelf platforms — WordPress for the website, Zoom for TechTalks, YouTube for video distribution, and email/newsletter systems for membership communications — with participating partners and board members contributing both content and operational capacity. Governance is provided by an elected Board of Directors (Tom Beebe, President; and directors Rhonda Hackenburg, Gary Ben-Israel, Art Kagel, Bruce Simms) with bi-annual elections; IIUG is not a subsidiary of IBM or HCL, though it maintains mutual sponsorship relationships with both vendors.

Name

International Informix Users Group

Legal name

International Informix Users Group

Website

https://iiug.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

International Informix Users Group (IIUG) is an independent, volunteer-run non-profit community of 25,000+ IBM and HCL Informix database professionals, providing free membership, the monthly Insider newsletter, a TechTalks webinar series on YouTube, a knowledge library, software repository, certification support, and a worldwide network of local and international user groups funded by corporate sponsorship.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

San Diego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership: IIUG membership is free. The organization does not charge fees for membership, newsletter subscriptions, or access to community resources.
2. Sponsorships: IIUG receives support and commitment from IBM's Information Management division. Corporate sponsors (IBM, HCL, and others) provide financial and in-kind support in exchange for visibility to the Informix user community.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The International Informix Users Group (IIUG) is a non-profit user community organization serving IBM Informix database administrators, developers, and data professionals. It provides free resources including newsletters, TechTalks webinars, online forums, and networking opportunities to support and advocate for the Informix database product community.

Product overview

IIUG is a community organization (not a product company) that supports IBM Informix database users worldwide. The organization provides community resources including the monthly IIUG Insider newsletter, Informix TechTalks webinar series on YouTube, a software repository, knowledge library with historical conference content, and member-only access areas. The organization does not sell or develop its own software products; it serves as an agnostic resource hub for Informix users regardless of whether they use IBM or HCL versions of the product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• IIUG Newsletter
• TechTalks Webinars
• IIUG Website and Online Community

Quantifiable outcome

• 584+ YouTube subscribers and 26,687+ views on TechTalks content
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• IBMcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerIIUG maintains a long-standing relationship with IBM's Information Management division. IBM provides support and commitment to IIUG, including sponsorship, access to product information, and resources for the Informix user community. IIUG helps promote IBM's Informix products and provides feedback to IBM on user needs.
• HCL TechnologiescoreGTM or Marketing PartnerIIUG has a growing relationship with HCL Technologies, which co-develops Informix with IBM. HCL provides sponsorship support and participates in IIUG events. IIUG maintains vendor-neutral stance and provides resources from both IBM and HCL.
• ArdentaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUK-based Informix expertise provider and IIUG member. Won IBM's Informix Business Partner of the Year award. Provides Informix consulting, reselling, and cloud services. Serves clients including Ladbrokes, Gala Coral, Betfair, William Hill, BBC, ITV, and other major organizations.
• Four JsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerGold sponsor of IIUG 2016 conference. Provides development tools and frameworks for Informix environments.
• ASK Database ManagementminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPatron sponsor of IIUG 2016 conference. Provides Informix database management services and support.
• Advanced DataToolsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPatron sponsor of IIUG 2016 conference. Provides Informix training courses including DBA training and performance tuning courses taught by IBM Informix Lifetime Champions.
• Fourth Generation Software CorpminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPatron sponsor of IIUG 2016 conference. Provides Informix-related software solutions.
• Actian (a division of HCL Software)Technology or IntegrationContributes to the Informix ecosystem through tools like the Vector Blade for AI/ML workloads on HCL Informix. Presenters from Actian participate in IIUG TechTalks.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Independent Oracle Users Group (IOUG): IOUG is the closest structural peer: an independent, volunteer-run membership organization serving users of a single database technology (Oracle). Same business model (free membership, sponsor-funded, vendor-neutral) and same community-resource product (newsletter, conferences, knowledge library).
• PASS / Redgate SQL Server Community: PASS historically was the premier user community for Microsoft SQL Server, organized as an independent volunteer association with local chapters, conferences, and a magazine — a near-identical model to IIUG for a different RDBMS technology.
• PostgreSQL Global Development Group / PgConf community: The PostgreSQL community operates as an open-source equivalent of IIUG's model — a volunteer-driven user community with conferences (PgConf), mailing lists, and vendor-neutral governance supporting users of a specific database technology.
• IBM Db2 Community: IBM's Db2 product has its own user community with similar volunteer characteristics and a shared vendor relationship with IBM — a direct sister-community to IIUG inside IBM's database portfolio.
• MySQL Community (under Oracle): MySQL has a global community of users served through MySQL User Groups, community events, and a federated volunteer model — the same structural pattern IIUG uses for Informix professionals.
• Java User Groups (JUG) community: JUGs operate as volunteer-run, locally-organized user groups with sponsor funding, conferences, and newsletters — the same community-organization model as IIUG but applied to a programming language rather than a database.

Emerging players

• Redis Community (Redis Inc.): Redis maintains an active community of users through events, documentation, and user groups for a specific in-memory database technology — analogous to IIUG's role for Informix but for a newer, growth-phase product.
• MariaDB Foundation: MariaDB Foundation operates as a vendor-independent community organization supporting users of an open-source database fork (MySQL) — a structurally similar model to IIUG's neutral, foundation-style governance, but applied to a growing rather than declining database.
• Apache Cassandra Community: The Cassandra community is organized around an open-source distributed database with conferences, mailing lists, and volunteer-driven governance — comparable community-association structure to IIUG for a different database technology.
• MongoDB User Groups: MongoDB has cultivated a global network of user groups, forums, and community events — a newer-generation analog of the model IIUG pioneered for Informix, but for a NoSQL database with active net-new growth rather than legacy maintenance.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/iiug
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/InformixTechTalksbytheIIUG
• Facebookfacebook.com/IIUG.Informix
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/iiug---international-informix-users-group

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about International Informix Users Group