Almost all organizations rely on databases for efficiently storing, organizing and retrieving application data. They just don’t want to manage them anymore.
Designing and managing databases is a challenging task requiring expertise in disciplines such as data modeling, normalization, indexing, query optimization and more. Those skills are tough to find under the best of circumstances but are particularly scarce during the ongoing global IT talent shortage.
Working with third-party Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) providers simplifies things immensely. They allow you to access database functionality without having to handle — or even understand — all the technical details. That’s why analysts anticipate healthy growth of the DBaaS market through the end of the decade. According to a new report from Market Intelligence Data, the worldwide DBaaS market is expected to see a 15.9 percent CAGR through 2029 to reach a value of $43.1 billion.
The benefits are easy to identify. DBaaS delivers all the classic cloud benefits — minimal capital investments, reduced operational overhead and near-infinite scalability. Your IT team doesn’t have to worry about supporting database infrastructure, managing permissions, handling backups, installing security updates or scaling storage resources.
Enhancing Reliability
Most importantly, qualified DBaaS providers have the breadth of experience to ensure database accessibility and reliability. Analysts say 80 percent of database outages are the result of human error, with the average outage lasting 90 minutes at a cost of nearly $8,000 per minute. Beyond the financial expense, outages take a toll on business operations and employee productivity.
Businesses simply cannot tolerate extended outages of databases that support critical business applications, such as enterprise resource planning systems, customer relationship management platforms, e-commerce websites and content management systems. When configuration errors, memory limitations or other issues cause a database to crash, all applications and services that rely on the database become unavailable. Even if the database can be restored from backup, there’s a good chance that at least part of the data will be lost or corrupted.
A DBaaS provider’s team can use various techniques to optimize database performance and minimize the risk of outages. Key skills include data modeling and indexing, database tuning, query optimization, load balancing, partitioning and caching strategies. Top providers also understand how to design and implement fault-tolerant architectures that can withstand hardware failures, network disruptions or natural disasters.
Other important DBaaS benefits include:
- Increased flexibility. With a thorough understanding of different database systems, providers can often offer options that internal IT staff can’t provide. For example, top providers will have deep familiarity with relational databases like Oracle, MySQL and IBM DB2 for structured data and NoSQL databases like MongoDB and Cassandra for unstructured data. That kind of broad expertise is essential now that up to 90 percent of global data is unstructured information such as video, audio and text.
- Cloud proficiency. Because they operate in a cloud environment, leading DBaaS providers understand how to leverage cloud capabilities to optimize database performance. For example, providers have a deep understanding of best practices related to networking, security, storage, scalability and availability. Management expertise with virtual machines, containers and serverless computing is also increasingly important.
- Improved collaboration. Remote teams often need to access and share data stored in databases. Cloud-based DBaaS facilitates collaboration by allowing geographically dispersed teams to work simultaneously on the same database, enhancing productivity and streamlining workflows. Additionally, DBaaS supports seamless integration with other cloud services, allowing organizations to leverage the benefits of a broader cloud ecosystem.
Technologent offers a wide range of solutions and services that can help your organization simplify database management, minimize disruptions, enhance scalability and improve collaboration. Contact us to learn more about optimizing your database environment.
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