Database Trends and Applications

MANAGING THE STORAGE EQUATION: THE CONVERGING ROLES OF DATA AND STORAGE PROFESSIONALS
This survey of Independent Oracle Users Group (IOUG) members was completed in October, 2006. (13 pages including 16 charts and graphs. Sponsored by Symantec)

The success of databases and applications increasingly depends on the amount of available, on-demand storage available to support new implementations, or new groups of users. However, often, storage resources may not be available, and the ability to plan and prepare for new or unexpected storage requirements may be out of the hands of database administrators or managers. This study explores the relationship of data management and storage. Among the key finding:

Storage requirements continue to grow rapidly. More than nine out of 10 respondents expect their database storage needs – covering relational data files – to increase over the coming year. More than seven out of 10 also say their non-traditional storage needs will grow.
Enterprises’ relentless thirst for storage has affected the ability to grow their databases and application environments, the survey finds. A majority reports that database growth has impinged upon available storage resources.
Systems administrators and database administrator s or managers play greater roles in storage decisions and day-today enterprise storage management than dedicated storage administrators. However, this varies by company size.

A total of 366 people participated in the survey. Respondents represent a wide range of job titles, and come from a variety of organizations. More than a third of respondents come from organizations with more than 5,000 employees. A majority, 57 percent, of respondents are database or systems administrators, while 15 percent come from various management-level positions overseeing IT. Another 13 precent are developers or analysts.