As businesses continue to navigate an evolving technological landscape, returning to the fundamentals of database management has emerged as a critical consideration. This discussion was highlighted in a recent webinar hosted by Database Trends and Applications (DBTA), titled "The Next Era of Database Management: Emerging Technologies and Best Practices." The event brought together database experts from Datavail and Oracle to discuss key topics including cloud-native databases, the impacts of diverse data types, vendor lock-in, and the increasing role of artificial intelligence (AI) in data management.
Srinivasa Krishna, director and global practice lead of MySQL services at Datavail, noted a significant gap between the rapid pace of innovation in the data management landscape and the actual readiness of organisations to leverage these advancements. According to DBTA's 2024 Market Study, a substantial 62% of organisations find themselves operating at a basic level of data management maturity, with a mere 8.3% sufficiently mature to utilise AI for insights and recommendations.
This disconnect underscores an issue within the industry. While there is a prevailing narrative that widespread adoption of AI is taking place, the reality is that many companies still struggle with fundamental data challenges such as performance issues, cost optimisation, and scalability. Anuj Pandey, a senior Oracle database administrator at Datavail, elaborated on this point, stating that traditional databases often fall short in handling modern workloads, leading organisations to invest in additional hardware like CPUs and memory, which ultimately escalates overall costs and complexity of maintenance.
The discussion also touched on security issues associated with traditional databases. Mike Frank, MySQL product management director at Oracle, highlighted the significant challenges regarding identity management, compounded by difficulties in cross-team collaboration. “No longer can you just look at [databases] at a single point,” said Frank. He pointed out that the existence of data silos presents a problem, particularly when the need arises to aggregate data for analysis, thereby underscoring the importance of standardisation in database management.
Furthermore, the experts addressed the necessity of supporting a range of data types, including structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data. Freddy Hernandez, multi-cloud database leader at Oracle, clarified that the complexity of modern workloads does not stem solely from handling diverse data types but rather from managing the systems and applications needed for effective communication across these varying data types. Hernandez advocated for the integration of different systems that can support a range of data types, what Oracle refers to as a converged database, which would provide the flexibility required in today’s data environments.
Looking ahead, experts envision databases that cater to a diversity of needs, including support for spatial data, Internet of Things (IoT), and various architectures such as distributed databases or microservices. Frank added that attention must also be given to the types of processing carried out on data, emphasizing the importance of real-time processing and ensuring data persistence across systems without overloading the databases in question.
The insights from the Datavail and Oracle experts reflect a broader conversation within the tech community regarding the future of database management. The discussion provides an in-depth look at the challenges and opportunities facing businesses as they strive to optimise their data management strategies in an increasingly complex technological environment. For those interested in exploring this topic further, an archived version of the webinar is available for viewing.
Source: Noah Wire Services