DBTA E-EDITION
January 2025
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Trends and Applications
Throughout 2024, data managers and professionals were at the locus of the new waves of innovation driven by AI and analytics—and the activity was frenetic and intense. As the year 2025 progresses, this intense and frenetic activity will only continue. Cloud services, AI, AI agents, and cybersecurity are top areas of interest that industry leaders are watching. The following are several prominent trends mentioned that are shaping data management.
In 2025, preventing risks from both cybercriminals and AI use will be top mandates for most CIOs. Ransomware, in particular, continues to vex enterprises, and unstructured data is a vast, largely unprotected asset. AI solutions have moved from experimental to mainstream, with all the major tech companies and cloud providers making significant investments in building turnkey generative (GenAI) and AI solutions for enterprise customers.
Columns - Database Elaborations
A surrogate is, "One appointed to act in place of another." A surrogate key is appointed to act in place of a natural key. Why? Well, one could argue that surrogate keys existed since the beginning of the computer. As the computer uses internal addresses for finding everything, and in the early days that usage had to be explicitly managed by those programming. It wasn't until relational theory came along that the concept of using data values as identifiers arose and were functionally implemented.
Columns - DBA Corner
A day in the life of a DBA (database administrator) can be quite hectic. The DBA is required to maintain production and test environments while at the same time keeping an eye on active application development projects, attending strategy and design meetings, helping to select and evaluate new products, and keeping legacy systems robust and stable, while ensuring access from new systems.
Columns - SQL Server Drill Down
Even after 50 years, Structured Query Language, or SQL, remains the native tongue for those who speak data. It's had impressive staying power since it was first coined the Structured Query English Language in the mid-1970s. It's survived and thrived through the dot-com era and the proliferation of cloud technology. In essence, SQL is a technology that evolves.
Columns - Emerging Technologies
After more than 2 decades of writing for DBTA, this will be my final column. It has been a privilege and a pleasure to engage with you on databases and emerging technologies. As with all good things, this journey must end, and I want to use this moment to reflect on the changes we've witnessed during the past 20 years and look ahead to the future.
MV Community
To help make the process of identifying useful products and services easier, each year, DBTA presents a list of Trend-Setting Products, highlighting a commitment to innovation and to provide organizations with tools to address changing market requirements. Several MV leaders including Kore Tech, Revelation Software, and Rocket Software continue to make an impact and again top this list.