Today, there is a constantly evolving list of data management issues that organizations are contending with. In addition to pressures of exploding data volumes, there is urgent demand for real-time, data-driven insights as well as more widespread data access. Expanding regulatory mandates also demand greater data quality and governance, as do cybersecurity threats.
The myriad, and sometimes conflicting, requirements facing data managers were highlighted in a 2020 survey report released by Unisphere Research, a division of Information Today, Inc., and sponsored by Dell EMC (“2020 Quest-IOUG Database Priorities Survey”). For roughly two out of three data managers, mundane, administrative tasks consume a substantial part of their budgets. According to Unisphere analyst Joe McKendrick, maintaining system stability—patching, fixing, upgrading—is considered by 66% of respondents to be the costliest part of their jobs. In addition, 61% indicated that much of their budget goes to maintaining uptime and availability. For 49%, security consumes sizable portions of their time.
The critical role of IT in supporting business initiatives is reflected in projections for increased spending. For a significant segment of respondents, IT budgets have been on the upswing—41% said their IT spending will be increasing over the past year’s budget, McKendrick stated. For 18%, these budgets are expected to increase significantly, exceeding 10% growth. Only 11% were planning to cut back on their budgets.
Fortunately, innovative vendors are addressing both emerging and long-standing challenges. In addition to popular relational database and trusted MultiValue technologies, data strategies leveraging document, key-value, time series, graph, in-memory, and multi-model approaches are gaining ground. And, increasingly, AI, machine learning, and automation are playing roles in helping to heighten speed and agility.
The result is that, whether cloud-based or on-premise, open source or proprietary, there are many options for data management and analytics.
Spanning the spectrum of well-established and cutting-edge, the DBTA 100 is our way of recognizing companies that are preparing for the future.
As we do each year, in addition to the DBTA 100, we also present “View From the Top” articles penned by industry executives explaining in their own words how their companies are uniquely handling data management problems and opportunities. We encourage you to learn more about these organizations by visiting their websites. To stay on top of the latest news, IT trends, and research, go to www.dbta.com.