3 INTRODUCTION AND KEY RESULTS Data and information has long been recognized as companies’ most valuable assets—and database administrators (DBAs) have been the key guardians of those assets. DBAs’ primary responsibilities have been aimed at ensuring that data is safely, securely, accurately, and appropriately stored, managed, and maintained. DBAs must ascertain that organizations have the needed capacity to meet their data needs; that databases perform at optimal levels, and that databases function properly and are backed up. If problems arise, DBAs are the ones called on to troubleshoot and resolve the issues effectively and efficiently. And if a system fails for whatever reason, the DBAs are responsible for recovering the data stored in their databases. And those are just the baseline responsibilities for most DBAs. Over the last 10 years, major trends in technology have shaped and reshaped the ongoing role of the DBA in many organizations. New data-producing devices—ranging from smartphone technology to the Internet of Things—have continued to drive data growth, often requiring DBAs to manage both more database instances as well as a wider range of database management systems. New data types coupled with emerging applications have led to the growth of non-relational data management systems. Frequently, the management of non-relational data platforms such as NoSQL databases has fallen under the purview of the DBA. Cloud technology has enabled enterprises to move some data off-premises, complicating the overall data infrastructure. And new database management tools have allowed some common functions to be more fully automated. This shifting environment has led to an expansion of the DBA role in some settings. DBAs are looked to for advice and guidance in developing the overall data management infrastructure, including when to move data to the cloud. Moreover, with the growth of the DevOps approach to application development, many DBAs are more deeply involved with application and database development. To gain insight into the evolving challenges for DBAs, Quest commissioned Unisphere Research, a division of Information Today, Inc., to survey DBAs and those responsible for the management of the corporate data management infrastructure. The more than 200 respondents came from a wide range of industries and companies of different sizes. More than half were DBAs or database developers and 20% came from companies with more than 5,000 employees. Details about the respondent pool can be found in the appendix. Among the key findings are: n Structured data under management continues to grow at a substantial rate, requiring DBAs to manage both more database instances and a wider variety of relational database management systems. n Cloud technology plays a significant role in hosting databases and that role will continue to grow. Cloud approaches will have the greatest impact on database administration over the next three years. n NoSQL platforms represent a smaller but important slice of the data management infrastructure. n The number of DBAs that organizations need is holding steady. n Database management tools have reduced the time some DBAs must invest in some routine operations, allowing them to expand their roles in other areas. Database performance continues to be the top priority for DBAs. n Many DBAs are increasingly involved in application development. n DBAs are emerging as key influencers in the overall data management infrastructure. DBAs FACE NEW CHALLENGES: TREND IN DATABASE ADMINISTRATION was produced by Unisphere Research. Unisphere Research is the market research unit of Unisphere Media, a division of Information Today, Inc., publishers of Database Trends and Applications magazine and the 5 Minute Briefing newsletters. To review abstracts of our past reports, visit www.unisphereresearch.com. Unisphere Media, 121 Chanlon Road, New Providence, NJ 07974; 908-795-3702. 4 THE DATA INFRASTRUCTURE Although the emergence of a wide variety of new and significant data types that have been brought under management during the last decade has captured a lot of attention, managing structured data continues to be central to most organizations. Companies are managing massive amounts of data and support an impressive number of database instances. As Figure 1 shows, nearly 60% of the respondents have more than 100TB of structured data under management. And, that data is spread over a lot of database instances. More than 40% of the respondents have more than 100 database instances running. Close to 20% have more than 500 database instances in operation. (See Figure 2.) To manage this data, companies use an array of database systems. As Figure 3 demonstrates, Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server continue to be the overwhelming market leaders in relational database management systems (RDBMSs). But respondents also mentioned using more than 20 relational, NoSQL, or MultiValue DBMSs in their operations. The amount of data under management and the number of database management systems in use has several implications for database administrators. As can be inferred from Figure 3, many companies support more than one database management system. Indeed, as Figure 4 reveals, 40% of the respondents support four or more brands of database management systems. At the same time, most DBAs are responsible for managing multiple database instances, with 10% of the respondents indicated that DBAs in their organization manage more than 100 database instances. (See Figure 5.) Finally, the rate of growth of structured data under management remains impressive. As Figure 6 shows, around 90% of the survey respondents indicated that structured data in their on-premises databases was growing at an annual clip of 50% or less. Obviously, a 50% growth is significant, but with so many potential datagenerating devices coming on stream, perhaps not unanticipated. This aspect of the picture for data management and database administration is not entirely new. A survey conducted three years ago produced similar results with 10% of the respondents reporting that DBAs in their organization supported more than 100 database instances and around 40% indicating that each DBA was responsible for at least 25 database instances. Interestingly, in that survey, respondents felt the number of database instances each DBA was tasked with managing was increasing. That growth may have taken place to a degree but the overall landscape has not radically changed. At the same time, three years ago, DBAs were also routinely required to support database systems from several different vendors. Even the rate of structured data on-premises has been relatively stable over the past several years, with a majority of companies seeing structured data growing between 10% and 50% annually. While the data growth rate, number of databases instances, and number of platforms that each DBA must support has not dramatically changed in the last three years, the database infrastructure has gotten more complex. Two factors have driven increased complexity. First, the cloud has emerged as a significant platform for database management. Second, non-relational databases, including NoSQL databases, have gained a notable foothold in the corporate environment. DBAs FACE NEW CHALLENGES: TREND IN DATABASE ADMINISTRATION was produced by Unisphere Research. Unisphere Research is the market research unit of Unisphere Media, a division of Information Today, Inc., publishers of Database Trends and Applications magazine and the 5 Minute Briefing newsletters. To review abstracts of our past reports, visit www.unisphereresearch.com. Unisphere Media, 121 Chanlon Road, New Providence, NJ 07974; 908-795-3702.