Case Study

Toad® for IBM DB2® Provides a Major U.S. Financial

Institution with a Single Database Management Solution “Toad for DB2 has made a huge difference
and Greater Productivity in my life. After trying two competing
products, I found that only Toad gives
me all the capabilities I need, including
The regional datacenter of an industry-leading financial institution supports the mortgage banking trade
remote access.”
desk across the United States. A key system within this datacenter is the capital markets operational data
store, which runs on IBM DB2® UDB on RS/6000 AIX systems. The datacenter runs parallel production and — Senior Developer of leading
financial institution
backup systems, and developers and DBAs share production support duties. The production support
staff is on call around the clock. The institution needed a single database management solution that
would enable IT staff to diagnose and resolve even complex issues in production and development
environments—without having to be on site. The search for a solution led the company to Toad® for IBM
Overview
DB2 from Quest Software.

The Challenge Headquarters

The mortgage banking trade desk processes about $9 billion in loans daily and needs the most accurate, San Francisco
up-to-date information possible. The complex back-end system has been built incrementally over time
Services
to meet the mortgage banking department’s growing needs. The core infrastructure leverages DB2 UDB,
running DataStage and a suite of SQL scripts. In addition, DBAs rely on an operational data store to supply Financial Services

a small data warehouse with several months of information. Some tables have 90 days’ worth of data, and Critical Needs
the DBAs extract records from those tables monthly, while keeping 18 months of additional loan data so
A single solution for database
the trade desks can trace the history of a loan. development and production support
that provides enterprise-level features
This critical system supports a massive volume of mortgage transactions and is managed by a small and remote access
DBA staff. When something goes wrong, it must be fixed immediately. This is a challenge for developers
Solution
working 24/7 from remote locations. “When I’m on production support, I’m on call day or night,”
explained the bank’s senior developer. “I live too far away from the office to drive in and fix problems, so Toad for IBM DB2

I need to access the database from home and do anything I could do in the office remotely. Tools that Results
meet both of these needs are quite rare.”
• Consolidated solution, replacing two
The Quest Solution less-effective tools

When the senior developer joined the company, the IT group was using two competing tools—WinSQL • Improved production support
productivity with remote access
and RapidSQL—for diagnosing and resolving issues in production and development. He soon found
• Provided faster startup and workflow
these tools would not meet his needs. WinSQL’s feature set was not extensive enough, and RapidSQL’s
than competing tools for common tasks
footprint didn’t allow him to use it remotely.

As a long-time user of Toad for Oracle, the senior developer decided to investigate whether Quest had a
similar solution for the DB2 platform. “When I found that Quest was beta testing Toad for IBM DB2, I
jumped all over it,” he said. “Since I’m familiar with Quest, I know it’s focused on creating tools developers
need, unlike some companies that don’t focus well to customer requirements.”

Toad for DB2 provides developers of all skill levels with a single toolkit for creating and debugging stored
procedures and generating SQL, as well as viewing and editing DDL. It also simplifies script execution
and automates basic object management, which can lead to greater productivity and shorter
development cycles.

Toad for DB2 turned out to be precisely what the senior developer was seeking. He found he could
replace the two tools he was using with a single solution. That’s because Toad for DB2 delivered all the
features he needed, and he could use it remotely to diagnose production problems.
The Bottom Line
Besides replacing two lesser tools, Toad for DB2 boosted the senior developer’s productivity. “One of the
things I do regularly is pull up the DDL for a table,” he explained. “With Toad for DB2, I can do this
roughly three times faster than I could with RapidSQL, based on the startup time for each tool.”

The senior developer finds Toad for DB2 easier to use than other development tools for DB2, but not
because of his prior experience with Toad for Oracle. “Toad for DB2 is very simple to navigate, even if you
don’t already know Toad for Oracle,” he stated. “Other developers on the team that hadn’t used Toad for
Oracle said they found Toad for DB2 very intuitive and its information well presented.”

Although it’s possible to find many of Toad for DB2’s capabilities in competing products, the senior
developer noted that none provide a complete solution, as Toad does. “Toad provides separate tabs for
editing and displaying queries, works well on dual-screen PCs, and has a great connection manager,” he
said. “Its features always seem to be well thought through, right down to the smallest detail. All of this
spells countless productivity improvements that, while impossible to measure, are definitely real.”

The senior developer plans to have his entire team start using Toad for DB2 over the coming year. “I lead
by example,” he said. “When my team sees how easily I accomplish tasks every day that they sweat over,
I’m sure they’ll see the light.”

About Company
This leading financial institution provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer
finance from 6,000-plus stores, the internet, and other distribution channels across North America and
internationally. With headquarters in California, it has $420 billion in assets and 146,000 team members. It
is one of the United States’ top-40 largest private employers.

About Quest Software, Inc.

Quest Software, Inc. delivers innovative products that help organizations get more performance and
productivity from their applications, databases and Windows infrastructure. Through a deep expertise in
IT operations and a continued focus on what works best, Quest helps more than 50,000 customers
worldwide meet higher expectations for enterprise IT. Quest Software can be found in offices around
the globe and at www.quest.com.

Quest Software Incorporated • 5 Polaris Way, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656 • www.quest.com • e-mail: info@quest.com
© 2007 Quest Software Incorporated. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA CSD-ToadDB2-FI-US-US