Ensuring application availability is much more than simple up/down monitoring, as today's users have come to expect real-time responses, regardless of the device or network. While application front ends and back ends vary widely by application type, what almost all have in common is their dependency on transactional databases. To truly understand application performance, IT professionals must analyze database workloads in application context.
A recent Unisphere Research survey revealed that leading enterprises are turning to database lifecycle management (DLM) to address the complexity of modern databases. DLM involves coordinated processes, tools and people to optimize all aspects of the data lifecycle including data architecture and modeling, database design, performance monitoring, administration, security, storage and archiving.
Nearly 90 percent of survey respondents agree that the complexity of their database environment has increased over the past five years, while more than 45 percent say these environments have grown "significantly" or "extremely" more complex during this time. Getting a handle on these environments is critical to ensuring enterprise application availability and efficiency, not to mention a company's ability to conduct business and generate revenue.
Survey results indicate that nearly 80 percent of organizations now have some sort of DLM initiative underway, but most are in the early stages and 51 percent are part of existing application lifecycle management (ALM) efforts. While it's encouraging that companies understand the importance of databases to their ALM efforts, they may not be giving DLM the focus it deserves.
Close to 90 percent of companies using DLM solutions are already seeing a range of tangible business benefits as a result of their DLM efforts, including increased data systems uptime, making data more highly available to end users, increased confidence in the data, and more rapid and frequent delivery of applications.
Cloud computing represents a new way of managing data environments that may relieve enterprise data shops of some administrative burdens and provide speed and flexibility advantages for the business. For mission-critical applications, the movement to the cloud presents some sobering news. Only 19 percent of data managers surveyed indicate they intend to move a significant portion of their enterprise data to public cloud, while 26 percent intend to move to more secure private or hybrid cloud environments. These figures indicate that enterprise applications will not be able to fully leverage the benefits of data in the cloud for some time.
Aligning applications with data seems to be a key issue for many IT pros. When asked what their most pressing challenges were in managing database environments, "determining related application issues" was top of mind for 30 percent of respondents. According to one, DLM addresses this issue by enhancing the "ability to remain in step with the application."
Enterprise applications are only as effective as the databases that provide their foundation, and these survey findings make it clear that IT pros fully understand this reality. As a result, many companies are embracing DLM initiatives to ensure their mission-critical applications are deployed quickly, run with optimal efficiency and provide maximum business value.
Vicky Harp is a Corporate Strategist at IDERA.
The Latest
The use of hybrid multicloud models is forecasted to double over the next one to three years as IT decision makers are facing new pressures to modernize IT infrastructures because of drivers like AI, security, and sustainability, according to the Enterprise Cloud Index (ECI) report from Nutanix ...
Over the last 20 years Digital Employee Experience has become a necessity for companies committed to digital transformation and improving IT experiences. In fact, by 2025, more than 50% of IT organizations will use digital employee experience to prioritize and measure digital initiative success ...
While most companies are now deploying cloud-based technologies, the 2024 Secure Cloud Networking Field Report from Aviatrix found that there is a silent struggle to maximize value from those investments. Many of the challenges organizations have faced over the past several years have evolved, but continue today ...
In our latest research, Cisco's The App Attention Index 2023: Beware the Application Generation, 62% of consumers report their expectations for digital experiences are far higher than they were two years ago, and 64% state they are less forgiving of poor digital services than they were just 12 months ago ...
In MEAN TIME TO INSIGHT Episode 5, Shamus McGillicuddy, VP of Research, Network Infrastructure and Operations, at EMA discusses the network source of truth ...
A vast majority (89%) of organizations have rapidly expanded their technology in the past few years and three quarters (76%) say it's brought with it increased "chaos" that they have to manage, according to Situation Report 2024: Managing Technology Chaos from Software AG ...
In 2024 the number one challenge facing IT teams is a lack of skilled workers, and many are turning to automation as an answer, according to IT Trends: 2024 Industry Report ...
Organizations are continuing to embrace multicloud environments and cloud-native architectures to enable rapid transformation and deliver secure innovation. However, despite the speed, scale, and agility enabled by these modern cloud ecosystems, organizations are struggling to manage the explosion of data they create, according to The state of observability 2024: Overcoming complexity through AI-driven analytics and automation strategies, a report from Dynatrace ...
Organizations recognize the value of observability, but only 10% of them are actually practicing full observability of their applications and infrastructure. This is among the key findings from the recently completed Logz.io 2024 Observability Pulse Survey and Report ...
Businesses must adopt a comprehensive Internet Performance Monitoring (IPM) strategy, says Enterprise Management Associates (EMA), a leading IT analyst research firm. This strategy is crucial to bridge the significant observability gap within today's complex IT infrastructures. The recommendation is particularly timely, given that 99% of enterprises are expanding their use of the Internet as a primary connectivity conduit while facing challenges due to the inefficiency of multiple, disjointed monitoring tools, according to Modern Enterprises Must Boost Observability with Internet Performance Monitoring, a new report from EMA and Catchpoint ...
