Polyglot persistence, the practice of selecting the best database for the job, is on the rise. The days of the one-size-fits-all approach are gone as companies strongly embrace a range of NoSQL/NewSQL and relational, cloud and on-prem, and proprietary and open source options. With this trend, comes the opportunity to choose the right database for the job but also greater complexity.
The top reasons for using multiple database platforms are:
- Supporting multiple applications 81%
- Supporting multiple departments 54%
- Application vendor requirements 42%
- Supporting multiple workloads 36%
- Supporting increasing data volumes 29%
- Managing database licensing and support costs 28%
- Supporting unstructured data growth 22%
- Deployment in multiple or hybrid cloud 17%
- Avoiding vendor lock-in 16%
Including both relational and non-relational database management platforms, the majority of organizations are relying on more than one brand of database management system.
- 1 brand — 11%
- 2–3 brands — 46%
- 4–5 brands — 23%
- More than 5 brands — 13%
- Unsure — 8%
The top 5 challenges with diverse data environments are:
- Searching/discovering data 50%
- Reducing data latency 49%
- Scaling for growth 48%
- Siloed or inaccessible data 41%
- Aligning security 7%
Source: “Thriving in a Multi-Database World: PASS 2021 Survey On Data Diversity,” produced by Unisphere Research in partnership with Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS), and sponsored by Dell Technologies
The most popular digital transformation projects being undertaken by organizations right now involve cloud solutions, BI and data analytics, and cybersecurity. In addition, IoT and AI/machine learning (ML) are also important initiatives.
Top digital transformation priorities:
- Cloud solutions
- BI or data analytics
- Cybersecurity/information security
- IoT
- AI/ML
Source: “DBTA Digital Transformation and Cloud Workloads Study,” produced by Unisphere Research and sponsored by Aerospike
While it is no surprise that Oracle prevails as the leading vendor in a survey of Quest-IOUG members, there are numerous other data environments commonly seen within Oracle sites.
The most popular DBMSs now in use or planned for use within Oracle sites are:
- Microsoft SQL Server 70%
- MySQL 46%
- Apache Hadoop/HBase 29%
- PostgreSQL 24%
- IBM Db2 23%
- MongoDB 19%
- Teradata 19%
Source: “2020 Quest IOUG Database Priorities Survey,” produced by Unisphere Research and sponsored by Dell EMC