DBTA E-EDITION
December 2014

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Trends and Applications

Exploding data assets and the need for greater agility are helping to drive the move to virtualization. More than two-thirds of organizations in a recent Unisphere Research survey among members of the Independent Oracle Users Group indicate that the number of Oracle databases they manage is expanding. At the same time, many managers admit that their IT departments are sluggish when it comes to responding to new business requirements. For more than 50% of organizations, it takes their IT department 30 days or more to respond to new initiatives or deploy new solutions. For one-quarter of organizations, it takes 90 days or more.

The rise of digital platforms is spurring new innovation and new thinking within the data management world to an unprecedented degree, and it is recasting the look, feel, and functionality of solutions and approaches to data applications. There are many business opportunities arising from digital platforms that call for proactive leadership or engagement by data managers. A prime example is the emergence of the Internet of Things, which SMAC makes possible.


Columns - Big Data Notes

The introduction of increased transactional capability into non-relational databases makes sense—in the same way that providing SQL layers on top of Hadoop and many other non-relational stores makes sense. But it does raise the possibility of convergence of relational and non-relational systems. After all, if I take a non-relational database and add SQL and ACID transactions, have I still got a non-relational database, or have I come full circle back to the relational model?


Columns - Database Elaborations

Shunryu Suzuki, in his classic book, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, tells us that in the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's mind there are few. Both a beginner's and an expert's perspective have value, but bias toward either an expert or a beginner approach seems to consume an organization far too often.


Columns - DBA Corner

Lock contention issues can be frustrating problems to investigate and debug. Before blaming the database system (as is the usual response), there are a few questions to consider that can help identify the cause of the locking problems.


Columns - Quest IOUG Database & Technology Insights

Cloud solutions are rapidly expanding, and consumers and businesses are being offered these solutions at almost every turn. This reality is bringing to light one of the major concerns about cloud: IT security/privacy. It seems we are hearing about breaches into server systems, leaks in social media networks, industrial espionage, and other security incidents almost on a daily basis. So the cloud can't be secure, right?


Columns - SQL Server Drill Down

Delayed durability offers something that many SQL Server professionals have wanted for years—the ability to disable transaction logging. Why turn off the transaction log? You can accelerate performance in a lot of situations where you do NOT need transactional consistency.


Columns - Next-Gen Data Management

With the new tools available that allow companies to monitor database resources, pinpoint the root cause of problems, speed up applications, and prevent crashes, some may wonder if companies will need DBAs at all in the future. However, the risk to DBAs and technology professionals as a whole is not that their jobs are going away, but that they may opt to not take the time to understand and use the tools and technologies that will allow them to be better professionals. This can place them at a disadvantage to their peers and curtail their ability to add value to the organization, therefore limiting their careers.


MV Community

Entrinsik Informer has been recognized in a recent survey of BI products. Entrinsik Informer, an agile reporting and business intelligence application, provides access to real-time data from multiple sources, in-depth analytic capabilities, and intuitive data visualizations from one user-friendly web interface.

Kore Technologies' Kourier Integrator has helped improve Rockland Community College's speed and accuracy when it comes to its database performance. Kourier Integrator is Kore's flagship enterprise integration and data management suite with extract, transform, and load (ETL) and enterprise application integration capabilities (EAI).

Pick Cloud is leasing servers on a short-term basis as part of their cloud suite offerings. According to Mark Pick, CEO and founder of Pick Cloud, Inc., "There is now a cost-effective alternative for MultiValue application providers and users to spending a lot of time and money to configure, purchase, and set up a server on-premise for short-term use."

Revelation Software has announced that the keynote speaker for the Revelation Software Users' Conference will be Dan Lier, a best-selling author, sales and leadership expert and internationally recognized motivational speaker. The conference for Revelation's customers, partners, end users, and resellers globally will take place Tuesday, March 24, through Friday, March 27, 2015, at the Omni Houston Hotel in Texas.

Rocket Software has launched its beta for the Python programming language on UniData.

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