1.   Many of the products described above are produced and distributed by the systems operators or the database vendors.

2.   Analysts say the company is now far behind in supplying the kind of technology platform important database application vendors like SAP, Baan and PeopleSoft need.

3.   Finally, a new type of technology that some database vendors were counting on to jumpstart sales still has not taken off.

4.   Everyone expected that Larry Ellison of Oracle Corp., the big database software vendor, would be there.

5.   For years, database vendors offered steep discounts and multi-year deals that lured many customers to buy more than they needed.

6.   He recalled a similar episode at Sybase Inc. last year when the Emeryville-based database vendor replaced its CEO.

7.   In recent years, other software firms, including Bay Area database vendors Informix and Sybase, have been forced to restate earnings because of questionable sales bookings.

8.   Informix Corp. Chairman Phillip White is expected to meet financial analysts in New York today to outline his plan for turning around the troubled database vendor.

9.   Private information database vendors can also make huge mistakes.

10.   The database vendors themselves, like Oracle and Informix, offer their own tools, but they also often partner with Business Objects.