The better the information that Oracle and SQL Server have about the data in a database, the better choices they can make on how to execute the SQL. Statistics are Oracle's and SQL Server's chief source of information. If this information is out of date, performance of queries will suffer.

In their third live 'Oracle vs. SQL Server' discussion, Jonathan Lewis (Oracle Ace Director, OakTable Network) and Grant Fritchey (Microsoft SQL Server MVP) will look at statistics in Oracle and SQL Server on Jan 23, 2013 at 1600GMT.

Does Oracle and SQL Server gather the same information? What does each optimizer use this information for? And how can Oracle and SQL Server administrators override the defaults for better (or worse) performance? These are just some of the questions that Jonathan and Grant will try to answer in another not-to-be-missed session.

As before, this will be a live discussion with limited supporting slides, and will conclude with a Q+A session with Jonathan and Grant. Be prepared for a lively exchange that will not only entertain, but will teach you key concepts on Oracle and SQL Server. You can register here.