Noel Yuhanna Senior Analyst Forrester Research

TeleconferenceYour DBMS Strategy 2006 And BeyondNoel Yuhanna

Senior Analyst

Forrester Research

December 20, 2005. Call in at 12:55 p.m. Eastern Time

2Entire contents © 2005 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

Theme

All enterprises should consider refreshing their DBMS strategy

in 2006 to support changing business requirements, and technology advancements


Agenda

• DBMS drivers

• Trends affecting DBMS in 2006

• Top 10 DBMS initiates for 2006

• Recommendations

• Q&A


Key drivers for DBMS

• Growing data volumes

• Increasing compliance pressure

• Growing data complexity

• Increasing cost concerns


Trends affecting DBMS in 2006

• Adoption of open source database will increase

• Open source will improve on performance and availability

• Database security will become top initiative

• Demand for data archiving will grow

• Popularity of XML databases will increase

• Non-structured data will continue to move into databases

• Demand for automation will increase


Trends affecting DBMS in 2006 . . . (cont.)

• Demand for higher availability and disaster recovery will grow

• Database administration tools will be further simplified

• Standardization and consolidation initiatives will continue

• Unified administration strategy will become necessary


Too many DBMS initiatives to focus on . . .

High availability

Disaster recovery

Security

Outsourcing

Licensing

Open source

Tools

Consolidation

Standardize

StaffingSupport

Compliance

Cost controlSelectionIntegration

Migration

Upgrades

Efficiency

Automation

Grid

Virtualization

Archiving


Top 10 DBMS initiatives for 2006


#1. Getting a handle on DBMS licenses

• Most enterprises have excessive DBMS licenses

• Many databases are often underutilized

• Some however are out of compliance

• Enterprises can save by having optimal number of licenses

• Recommendations:

» Do an inventory control of your licenses

» Prepare a spread sheet on databases deployed

– Infrastructure: Servers, databases, storage

– Workload: Number of users

» Document, document, document

» Renegotiate with DBMS vendors if necessary

» Plan your DBMS licenses requirements for three to four years


#2. Focusing on compliance requirements

• Some 60% view compliance requirements as still confusing

• It’s more than just production databases, test databases also need data protection

• Each compliance requirement is different


» Tackle one compliance requirement at a time

– HIPPA, GLBA, Sarbanes, CA SB 1386 and more

» Take an enterprise-wide approach

» Document, document, document


#3. Standardizing and consolidating databases

• At least 15% of databases are not needed

• 35% of data is often duplicated in organizations

• Cost savings of 20% or more can be achieved through standardization and consolidation of databases


» Standardize on one or two key DBMSes

» Consolidate databases having common data model

» Categorize databases based on workload and requirements

» Also standardize on data management tools

» Vendors to look at — DBMS vendors, storage vendors such as EMC, Network Appliance


#4. Securing your critical databases

• Increased intrusions — both internal and external

• Basic database security is not good enough

• Comprehensive security comprises:

» Assessment, auditing, IDS/IPS, encryption, security administration


» It’s all about security policies and procedures, but it needs to be integrated with Information security

» Create enterprise-wide plan and follow strict guidelines

» Use tools and advanced security measures

» Remember test databases are also important

» Top DB security players: Besides DBMS vendors, Application Security Inc., Embarcadero, Guardium, Imperva, Ingrian, IPLocks, Lumigent, nCipher, and Protegrity


#5. Making open source DB part of your strategy

• More mature and reliable:

» MySQL 5.0, Postgresql 8.1, Ingres R3, Berkeley DB

• More choices, improved technology and support

• New vendors joined the race:

» Fujitsu, Ingres Corp, Pervasive Software, SUN

• Can save money, but mainly on acquisition costs


» Look at features and support options

» Start small and grow

» Standardize

» Join the community


#6. Revisiting high availability requirements

• Increasing demand for higher SLAs for more applications

• HA deployments still remain complex


» Remember not all databases need HA solution

» Have a test environment similar to production

» Ensure sufficient training

» Vendors to look at: Oracle, IBM, Microsoft, Veritas, Continuent, and MySQL


#7. Automating to lower cost and improve efficiency

• Outages — 25% are related to human errors

• Some 70% of database admin tasks can be automated

• Manual tasks take more time and resources

• DBMS vendors continue to offer more automation


» Look at tasks that can be automated

» Migrate to latest version of DBMS

» Use database tools to automate

» Top vendors: DBMS vendors and third-party vendors such as BMC, CA, Embarcadero, and Quest Software.


#8. Archiving your old data from production

• At least 80% of data in databases remains static

• Performance impact related to unwanted data can be huge

• Upgrades, migrations are slower and costly

• Long term data retention is also being driven by compliance requirements


» Move old production data every two to three years

» Key vendors: Princeton Softech, Outerbay, SAP and Applimation


#9. Implementing disaster recovery — finally

• DR remains important but often gets a low priority

• If no company-wide DR plan exists, create DBMS plan

• Most DBMSes offer simplified DR solutions


» Start with moving backup tapes to offsite location

» Use DBMS log shipping technology

» Testing and documentation is essential

» Key vendors: DBMS vendors and EMC, Network Appliance and Veritas


#10. Looking at data virtualization options

• Complexity has grown because of heterogeneous environments and disparate data

• Unstructured and semi-structured data needs better control

• Need for data virtualization has grown

• Forrester defines this as “Information Fabric”


» Look at distributed data cache, distributed meta data repository, and integrated data management across various data sources

» Players to look at — BEA, Gemstone, IBM, Oracle, Sybase, and Teracotta


Recommendations

• Develop an enterprise-wide DBMS strategy

• Focus on which DBMS to use and for what purposes

• Refine your DBMS strategy at least once a year

• Take on initiatives based on your business requirements

• Formalize and document your plan

• Get management buy-in

• Allocate resource and time for DBMS initiatives


Noel Yuhanna

[email protected]

www.forrester.com

Thank you

Technology

Noel Yuhanna Senior Analyst Forrester Research