At a time when enterprises are being overwhelmed by rapidly proliferating data sources, expanding data stores, and rising user demands for analytic capabilities, the watchword from Oracle has been “high performance.” Over the past year, the vendor has moved closer to the cloud with the launch of its Oracle 12c database to blend seamlessly with cloud-intensive environments. At the same time, there has been a concerted effort to enhance greater productivity and performance within data centers bearing the brunt of the big data and cloud revolutions.
For Oracle’s vast and growing network of independent software vendors, value-added resellers, systems integrators, and consultants, these are fast-changing times. Oracle made a number of announcements over the past year, intended to boost the performance of 12,000 independent applications running on its underlying infrastructure, from clustering software to database appliances.
Check out DBTA's special section Who to See @ Oracle OpenWorld 2014 with messages from and laading vendors and Oracle user groups.
The challenges facing many Oraclecustomers in today’s environment are borne out in a survey of 160 data and IT managers, conducted by Unisphere Research, a division of Information Today, Inc., among members of the Independent Oracle Users Group (IOUG). In the year leading up to the survey, business demand for database services as well as the associated data volumes grew by more than 20% on average. In contrast, most IT organizations experienced flat or shrinking budgets. Other factors such as substantial testing requirements and outdated management techniques are all contributing to a cost escalation and slow IT response. (“From Database Clouds to Big Data: 2013 IOUG Survey on Database Manageability,” Unisphere Research, July 2013.)
As demand for IT services and data volumes grow, so do the challenges with managing databases. Overall, the survey finds, data environments are not consolidated—enterprises are still running many separate databases for applications. There is impetus to move to cloud, with close to two-fifths of enterprises either already having or considering running database functions within private clouds. As private, hybrid, and public cloud adoption increases, the challenge of being able to manage data moving into virtualized environments will accelerate as well.