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Use of Database Monitoring Tools Rises to Record High

Over three quarters (79%) of database professionals are now using either a paid-for or in-house monitoring tool, according to a new survey from Redgate Software.

This is an increase of 10 percentage points from the same survey last year and, at the same time, the 86% satisfaction rate with paid-for monitoring tools is also an all-time high, up 18 percentage points on the previous year.

The increase is partly down to the ongoing growth and complexity of database estates, with IDC predicting the installed base of storage capacity will increase by 240% between 2021 and 2025, and virtually every business sector seeing a big shift to the cloud.

It's also, however, down to the changing demands from organizations, with the survey showing they expect the efficiency and performance of growing estates to be maintained, security and compliance concerns to be fully addressed, and the visibility of monitoring data to be widened beyond Database Administrators (DBAs) to developers and IT teams.

This in turn, increases the pressure on DBAs, with many reporting they are expected to do more with less. Hence the rise in the use of database monitoring tools, which appear to reduce frustration, save time and allow DBAs to focus their efforts on contributing value to the business elsewhere.

As Kathi Kellenberger, Microsoft Data Platform MVP and editor of the technical journal for data professionals, Simple Talk, explains: "While a DBA could be responsible for just one SQL Server instance, typically it's dozens and could be thousands too. Without a good monitoring tool in place, the DBA will constantly be putting out fires instead of learning about and taking advantage of new features, tuning poorly performing queries, planning for new systems and contributing to more worthwhile projects."

A good monitoring tool can give a DBA and the wider IT team a single pane of glass to watch for issues on all the SQL Server instances they manage, both on-premises and in the cloud, provide alerts when problems do arise, and drill down to the cause in minutes rather than the hours it would take with manual monitoring.

Methodology: The fourth global State of Database Monitoring Survey was conducted in the summer of 2021 and received responses from over 2,500 IT professionals in every business sector.

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Use of Database Monitoring Tools Rises to Record High

Over three quarters (79%) of database professionals are now using either a paid-for or in-house monitoring tool, according to a new survey from Redgate Software.

This is an increase of 10 percentage points from the same survey last year and, at the same time, the 86% satisfaction rate with paid-for monitoring tools is also an all-time high, up 18 percentage points on the previous year.

The increase is partly down to the ongoing growth and complexity of database estates, with IDC predicting the installed base of storage capacity will increase by 240% between 2021 and 2025, and virtually every business sector seeing a big shift to the cloud.

It's also, however, down to the changing demands from organizations, with the survey showing they expect the efficiency and performance of growing estates to be maintained, security and compliance concerns to be fully addressed, and the visibility of monitoring data to be widened beyond Database Administrators (DBAs) to developers and IT teams.

This in turn, increases the pressure on DBAs, with many reporting they are expected to do more with less. Hence the rise in the use of database monitoring tools, which appear to reduce frustration, save time and allow DBAs to focus their efforts on contributing value to the business elsewhere.

As Kathi Kellenberger, Microsoft Data Platform MVP and editor of the technical journal for data professionals, Simple Talk, explains: "While a DBA could be responsible for just one SQL Server instance, typically it's dozens and could be thousands too. Without a good monitoring tool in place, the DBA will constantly be putting out fires instead of learning about and taking advantage of new features, tuning poorly performing queries, planning for new systems and contributing to more worthwhile projects."

A good monitoring tool can give a DBA and the wider IT team a single pane of glass to watch for issues on all the SQL Server instances they manage, both on-premises and in the cloud, provide alerts when problems do arise, and drill down to the cause in minutes rather than the hours it would take with manual monitoring.

Methodology: The fourth global State of Database Monitoring Survey was conducted in the summer of 2021 and received responses from over 2,500 IT professionals in every business sector.

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Businesses that face downtime or outages risk financial and reputational damage, as well as reducing partner, shareholder, and customer trust. One of the major challenges that enterprises face is implementing a robust business continuity plan. What's the solution? The answer may lie in disaster recovery tactics such as truly immutable storage and regular disaster recovery testing ...

IT spending is expected to jump nearly 10% in 2025, and organizations are now facing pressure to manage costs without slowing down critical functions like observability. To meet the challenge, leaders are turning to smarter, more cost effective business strategies. Enter stage right: OpenTelemetry, the missing piece of the puzzle that is no longer just an option but rather a strategic advantage ...

Amidst the threat of cyberhacks and data breaches, companies install several security measures to keep their business safely afloat. These measures aim to protect businesses, employees, and crucial data. Yet, employees perceive them as burdensome. Frustrated with complex logins, slow access, and constant security checks, workers decide to completely bypass all security set-ups ...

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In MEAN TIME TO INSIGHT Episode 13, Shamus McGillicuddy, VP of Research, Network Infrastructure and Operations, at EMA discusses hybrid multi-cloud networking strategy ... 

In high-traffic environments, the sheer volume and unpredictable nature of network incidents can quickly overwhelm even the most skilled teams, hindering their ability to react swiftly and effectively, potentially impacting service availability and overall business performance. This is where closed-loop remediation comes into the picture: an IT management concept designed to address the escalating complexity of modern networks ...

In 2025, enterprise workflows are undergoing a seismic shift. Propelled by breakthroughs in generative AI (GenAI), large language models (LLMs), and natural language processing (NLP), a new paradigm is emerging — agentic AI. This technology is not just automating tasks; it's reimagining how organizations make decisions, engage customers, and operate at scale ...

In the early days of the cloud revolution, business leaders perceived cloud services as a means of sidelining IT organizations. IT was too slow, too expensive, or incapable of supporting new technologies. With a team of developers, line of business managers could deploy new applications and services in the cloud. IT has been fighting to retake control ever since. Today, IT is back in the driver's seat, according to new research by Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) ...

In today's fast-paced and increasingly complex network environments, Network Operations Centers (NOCs) are the backbone of ensuring continuous uptime, smooth service delivery, and rapid issue resolution. However, the challenges faced by NOC teams are only growing. In a recent study, 78% state network complexity has grown significantly over the last few years while 84% regularly learn about network issues from users. It is imperative we adopt a new approach to managing today's network experiences ...

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