Top 10 Trends in Database Management #6: Database as a Service DBaaS

Sometimes it feels like database as a service (DBaaS) exploded overnight, and it has an expected compound annual growth rate of 65 percent from now through 2020.

Amazon made quick moves to seize this opportunity via the competitive pricing of Amazon Web Services (AWS), which offers relational databases services (RDS). The cloud computing giant also has Elastic Cloud Compute (EC2). This platform streamlines the process of moving your company applications to the Amazon cloud.

It didn’t take long for Oracle, IBM, Microsoft and other companies to respond to this move. Now, Amazon’s competitors have their own solutions in place to take a piece of the DBaaS market share. Cloud services consumers are the big winners here, as they have many options and price points to choose from. Resellers put together custom cloud solutions for organizations, while managed service providers can cut their data storage costs and offer hybrid solutions.

Benefits of DBaaS

Enterprises leverage the cloud for many reasons, such as scaling their databases easily and reducing their expenses through paying only for the services they need. DBaaS expands on this concept by removing many database administration burdens from onsite staff. The DBaaS provider handles processes such as updating systems, maintaining the hardware, creating backups and patching software.

You need a managed services agreement in place as part of the solution, and you may want to bring in extra help through an IT managed services company specializing in databases. Your onsite IT staff regain the ability to focus on IT as a service driver, rather than having all their time taken up by routine database administration tasks. They can concentrate on optimizing database performance and creating strategies to better support your organization’s goals.

Getting Started with DBaaS

One of the best ways to get started with DBaaS in your organization is going through a third-party assessment. You get the necessary insight to determine whether a hybrid database solution or fully cloud-based database operation makes sense. Your potential cost savings are significant, so it’s well worth it to go through this process as part of the evaluation.