Pick Cloud, based in Newport Beach, Calif, was created to deliver MultiValue to the cloud, preserve and extende existing MultiValue investments, and provide a worry-free end user experience. DBTA talked with president and founder Mark Pick about the changes that have occurred since the company was formed in November 2012 - and what's ahead.
What has been the market reaction to the concept of MultiValue databases in the cloud?
MP: From the beginning, the reaction from the MultiValue community has been overwhelmingly positive. MultiValue is a natural fit for the cloud with its thin footprint and typically low bandwidth requirements. It reminds me of the early days when time-share was the computing method of choice because the hardware costs were prohibitive. Back then you paid for what you used, similarly how cloud computing works today.
What has surprised you most?
MP: What surprised me the most was while it can be fairly quick to deploy and migrate a MultiValue solution to the cloud, cloud computing can be very complex. There is a big difference between lift and shift methodology and having a fully managed virtualized implementation. While co-location may work for some, the lift and shift approach ruins cloud economics. Users aren’t getting the full benefit of the cloud in either hardware utilization or the accounting department. Plus the onus of managing the hardware and the software upgrades and updates lies with the hardware owner. If the hardware fails, it is up to the owner to replace it, which can be both a time-consuming and costly undertaking. We have spent the majority of this past year speaking to the MultiValue community about the difference and what it can mean to them.
What are some of the new services/capabilities that you intend to bring to market in 2014?
MP: In Q4 of this year, we partnered with Ladybridge Systems, Ltd. and launched in North America the OpenQM product as Database-as-a-Service or DBaaS. You get everything you need to run your MultiValue application without the costly upfront per seat licensing and hardware costs. We are very committed and excited to offer MultiValue to the community in this way. Pick Cloud’s offerings are always evolving to deliver the best service and products to our customers. We are continually enhancing our hosting and disaster recovery product suite. With seven data center locations across North America we have all the U.S. time zones covered.
In addition, we provide a number of third-party products that are aimed to enhance and rejuvenate MultiValue applications, including Entrinsik’s Informer reporting tool, AccuSoft Enterprises AccuTerm and Synergetic Data Systems CirrusPrint secure printing and file compression software. We are constantly looking for innovative ways to preserve and extend the life of MultiValue applications and our partner’s products do just that.
As the idea of NoSQL and specialized databases optimized for specific requirements gains ground, where do you see MultiValue fitting in?
MP: MultiValue has been providing a solid database platform for decades and continues to do so to this day. There is no reason why it can’t be considered as a valid alternative to SQL and as a part of the NoSQL movement.
What is necessary to attract more users to MultiValue in the future and for it to be seen more as an additional option in the NoSQL spectrum?
MP: I think that, to start, the next generation needs to get interested in using MultiValue as a base for developing their applications. In addition, it is incumbent upon MultiValue vendors to advertise, educate and participate in NoSQL events to give the MultiValue platform more visibility to the NoSQL audience. We support that 100%.