Information Management News

Sponsors

Trend-Setting Products in Data and Information Management for 2026

After a banner year for the "promise of progress" on AI ambitions, deepening CX fatigue, and ongoing economic volatility, Forrester is predicting 2026 will bring a year of reckoning. According to Sharyn Leaver, chief research officer at Forrester, "Navigating the coming year will take some mindset shifts: from lofty ambition to pragmatism, from experimentation to accountability, from surface-level engagement to meaningful connection." To help make the process of identifying useful products and services easier, each year, DBTA presents a list of Trend-Setting Products, highlighting a commitment to innovation and efforts to provide organizations with tools to address changing market requirements. 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

8 Predictions for AI in 2026

It's now 2026 and AI has become a daily part of business conversations. Everyone in the C-suite is contemplating whether to hop on the "hype train." The bubble surrounding the industry seems poised to pop at some point as the market becomes saturated with companies producing "AI slop" in terms of plagiarized art and writing and inflating the value of GPUs and other computer hardware equipment, along with demanding more capacity for data center power. Here, experts share their predictions for AI in 2026. Read More

The Illusion of Service: AI at the Bleeding Edge

As companies chase efficiency, it's no surprise that today's customer service call is more likely to be answered by a bot than by the much-maligned, outsourced operators of the past. Executives celebrate this shift with near-religious zeal. AI doesn't ask for vacation days, sick leave, or overtime pay. It's a one-time investment that trims expenses and inflates mar­gins—pure gold for companies chasing acquisitions or juiced valuations. Read More

Newsletters


Columnists

Todd Schraml

Database Elaborations

Todd Schraml

  • Differences Between Operational and Analytical Data Structures It is an unfortunate result of being human that we are biased by our first impressions. For example, we are often blinded when we encounter a subject area's data for the first time. The initial data structures we analyze and learn to understand set our internal paradigms. Once we understand that initial structure, we tend to believe that the way that structure is configured is the best, or the only way, that a specific data set of that kind of data should be presented.
Recent articles: Todd Schraml
Craig S. Mullins

DBA Corner

Craig S. Mullins

  • When the Cloud Comes Home: What DBAs Need to Know About Cloud Repatriation For the past decade, the industry mantra has been "move to the cloud." Vendors, analysts, and executives have pushed relentlessly toward cloud-first strategies, promising agility, elasticity, and cost savings. Many organizations followed suit—often quickly—migrating databases and applications out of their data centers. But it was never a sustainable goal to move everything to the cloud, even if industry pundits predicted that outcome.
Recent articles: Craig S. Mullins
Kevin Kline

SQL Server Drill Down

Kevin Kline

  • Introducing the AI Agent: The Newest Member of Your IT Team The daily routine of an IT professional remains largely reactive. A lot of time and budget is spent responding to tickets, limiting the time that we spend creating systems that drive growth and improve business value. I've long said, "the tyranny of the urgent leaves little time for the truly important."
Recent articles: Kevin Kline
  • Career GPS: Ending the Year with Direction in an Unpredictable World As 2025 draws to a close, the modern workplace remains anything but predictable—but that doesn't mean you can't move forward with clarity and intention. For database professionals—especially those in leadership or management roles—the pressure to evolve is constant. From AI-driven automation to evolving compliance demands and growing data complexity, you're tasked with delivering results while navigating near-constant change.
Recent articles:  
  • 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)?
Recent articles:  

Trends and Applications