Research: State of Database Technology
Current State: Disgruntled and Overcharged
Databases are many things--critical, complex, expensive--and IT has long had a love-hate relationship. But lately, according to our InformationWeek 2012 State of Database Technology Survey, the pendulum is swinging toward dissatisfaction. Many of our 760 respondents, all of whom are involved with their organizations’ database strategies, express a sense that vendors need to step up and earn their money by helping customers deal with problems, including larger data volumes, more fluid data relationships, integration issues--and, in some cases, barely contained chaos. "Some [survey] questions assume there is a primary database," says one respondent. "There is no primary database in our company. Databases are designed by function, with over 10,000 various instances." Adds another: "We have multiple primary database platforms and data mart platforms in our organization as a result of multiple mergers and acquisitions to add product lines. Wherever possible, we are moving from proprietary software technologies to open source; in the database area, this has meant adding MySQL and Mongo over the past year."
In short, the well-established data structures that have served us effectively for more than 40 years are showing their age. Changes to how our organizations use data, as well as the sheer amount of data we manage, have led to new hosting and structuring options, including NoSQL, semantic data stores and hosted warehouse environments. Some of these are gaining traction, while others, unfortunately, remain largely ignored. Sometimes, as with cloud or virtualization, there are good reasons for holding back, but in other cases, particularly lower-cost relational database management systems and moving to commodity hardware, we’re passing on technology that could cut costs while increasing satisfaction.
Speaking of costs, just 11% say they're very satisfied with database licensing costs and terms. No surprise there. In this report, we'll discuss the results of our recent poll, including trending from our 2010 survey, and share guidance from our practice and respondents who have provided their insights and opinions regarding current practices and emerging trends. (R3950112)
Survey Name InformationWeek 2012 State of Database Technology Survey
Survey Date November 2011
Region North America
Number of Respondents 760
Purpose To determine the role of database technologies in the enterprise
Table of Contents
4 Author's Bio
5 Author's Bio
6 Executive Summary
7 Research Synopsis
8 Current State: Disgruntled and Overcharged
13 Resolution: Set Up Some Pilots
14 Insecure? Not Us
17 Transactional Databases
19 Changing Database Needs
23 Data Warehouses and Data Marts
27 NoSQL
30 Semantics Technology
32 Virtualization
34 Cloud
36 On the Horizon
39 Conclusions
40 Appendix
54 Related Reports
About the Author
Joseph P. Raiti Jr. is the CIO of Blue Slate Solutions. He founded Blue Slate Solutions together with CEO Richard Barnett in 2000. Since Blue Slate's inception, Joe has been a leader of the information technology team. He is an enterprise information architect with more than 20 years experience in designing, implementing and maintaining financial-control applications, enterprise data warehouses, BPM and decision-support solutions.
As CIO for Blue Slate, Joe combines his leadership skills with his deep data-centric technical acumen to ensure successful client solutions in healthcare, financial services, retail and higher education. He often works as a hands-on leader who is engaged through all phases on a SDLC, including understanding the business need, architecting and implementing the solution to performance analysis and optimization. One of Joe's greatest strengths lies in his ability to communicate the most complex technical strategies in a simple, concise way to all levels of management.
Joe has led many enterprise programs for Blue Slate’s clients, often with a focus on data management solutions. For Fortune 50 and large health plans, he has designed and developed data warehouse solutions that are focused on deliverable, actionable information to the business leaders to enable data-driven decision making. Joe develops knowledge management solutions that incorporate business rules, document management, workflow and reporting components to provide powerful end user applications under common master data management architecture.
Prior to joining Blue Slate, Joe had experience with several entrepreneurial startups, including Aptech Inc. and Integrated Partners, as well as various technical leadership roles at large, international conglomerates, including Philip Morris, Kraft Foods and GE. Joe earned his master's in the mathematical component of computer science at Binghamton University and his bachelor's in computer science and math at the State University of New York at Potsdam.
David Read is the CTO of Blue Slate Solutions and leads the company's technology consulting team. His hands-on involvement in projects includes functional requirements, technology platform and product choices, integration approaches, architecture design, QA procedure definition and implementation processes. Blue Slate focuses on BPM integration, encompassing business processes, rules, data and analytics. Delivery expertise includes business analysis, process re-engineering, effective integration of existing technology with new BPM and BRM systems, as well as construction of secure and reliable service-oriented systems.
Dave provides leadership surrounding all phases of the SDLC and adds deep expertise in systems integration, data structures, predictive analytics and data security, including encryption, protocols, policies and processes for multiple healthcare and insurance clients. He is also involved in speaking engagements and education at forums such as the PCIAA, an IT conference for property and casualty insurers; JavaOne; CMS's Business Partners Best Practice Conferences; and the Business Rules Forum. His expertise includes significant data mining experience, and he is currently working on projects leveraging semantic technologies to improve data reusability and integration.
Prior to joining Blue Slate, Dave had 15 years of IT leadership experience, including various positions within GE, where he was a lead architect for many diverse Web-based applications focusing on a scalable and standards-based infrastructure. The success of these applications led to his receiving GE's Internet Pioneer of the Year award. He holds a bachelor of science in computer information systems from the College of Saint Rose, as well as CISSP and GIAC/GSEC certifications.
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