Nominations Are Now Open for DBTA’s Readers’ Choice Awards

Submissions for nominations are now open for the annual Database Trends and Applications Readers' Choice Awards, a competition in which the winning information management solutions, products, and services are selected by you, the users. The nominations period is open through March 6, 2026, and will be followed by actual voting on the products nominated by our readers. Read More

What Makes a Great DBA in 2026?

The role of the database administrator (DBA) has never been static. From the early days of punch cards and mainframes to today's cloud-native, AI-assisted environments, DBAs have always had to evolve. But as we step into 2026, the definition of a "great DBA" is shifting in ways that go beyond technical prowess. Read More

The End of Jobs as We Know Them (And Why That’s Not a Bad Thing)

For decades, every major technological breakthrough has sparked fear about job loss. From steam engines to computers, new tools were once seen as threats to human work. But each wave of innovation brought transformation, not extinction. Work did not disappear—it evolved. Today, AI and digital technologies are raising similar concerns. Headlines often focus on what machines can replace, rather than what they enable. Read More

Information Management Trends in the Year Ahead

In the year ahead, there will be signs of significant transformation at data sites. AI is the driver of change, of course, but it goes deeper, promising to reshape operations, security, customer interaction data, and a host of other functions. To explore the possibilities, we canvassed leaders across the industry on the changes they see ahead in the data world. Read More

Webinars

More Webinars

Columnists

Database Elaborations

Todd Schraml

Language is Always Hard Words such as "taxonomy" and "ontology" are often thrown around by data architects as if these terms were interchangeable. Generically, the ideas of taxonomy and ontology are similar, but not synonymous.

DBA Corner

Craig S. Mullins

What Makes a Great DBA in 2026? The role of the database administrator (DBA) has never been static. From the early days of punch cards and mainframes to today's cloud-native, AI-assisted environments, DBAs have always had to evolve. But as we step into 2026, the definition of a "great DBA" is shifting in ways that go beyond technical prowess.

SQL Server Drill Down

Kevin Kline

Striking the Right Balance Between Automation and Manual Processes in IT As agentic AI continues to expand across the IT landscape, many processes are being automated. However, some processes are still better managed by humans than by machines. Rather than thinking of applying AI wherever possible and over-automating, leaders should think about the most beneficial uses of the technology and begin implementation of the technology in those areas first before expanding further.

Emerging Technologies

The End of Jobs as We Know Them (And Why That’s Not a Bad Thing) For decades, every major technological breakthrough has sparked fear about job loss. From steam engines to computers, new tools were once seen as threats to human work. But each wave of innovation brought transformation, not extinction. Work did not disappear—it evolved. Today, AI and digital technologies are raising similar concerns. Headlines often focus on what machines can replace, rather than what they enable.

Next-Gen Data Management

Will AI Become Our Friend or Foe? Technology Professionals Weigh In. Picture this: there's a new face in the IT department, ready to step in to help tackle the increasingly complex challenges caused by modern hybrid on-prem and multi-cloud environments. Overstretched technology teams always appreciate an extra set of helping hands, but what happens when this new team member isn't human—but artificial intelligence (AI)?