More than an application for storage

Database vendors are riding the growth wave as organisations scale up and deploy mission-critical applications. Toms Mathew reports

According to a recent study by Forrester titled Trends 2006: Database Management Tools, 2006 will see demand for database management tools in archiving, security, migration, backup, and replication. Demand for database tools to support open source databases will also increase as more enterprises look at deploying mission-critical applications.

However, the demand for performance and tuning tools will decline as top database management systems (DBMS) vendors roll out enhanced native tuning features in 2006 and beyond. Database tools innovation will focus on self-healing, self-securing and self-management capabilities in addition to simplifying administration across heterogeneous environments.

According to Noel Yuhanna, Analyst, Forrester Research, as more enterprises look at deploying mission-critical applications, the demand for open source platforms will also increase.

Databases are the backbone of the IT infrastructure of every enterprise. The database market in India showed an upward curve in 2005. The growth in the database sector could be attributed to several reasons. With more enterprises strengthening their IT infrastructure, the significance of databases is only going to increase in 2006.

Stimulating factors

"BI is going to be important as many organisations have invested in core applications such as ERP, billing and CRM" -Kaushik Bagchi Country Leader, DB2 Information Management Software Software Group IBM India

The strong growth experienced by the database industry could be attributed to the consolidation happening in the PSU and government space. Customers are no longer looking only at cost reduction when they go for a new database. Robustness and flexibility to changing customer needs rank first among enterprise needs.

In 2005 we had mentioned how database vendors are adding software features such as Business Intelligence (BI) and content management to their products. The other aspect that we referred to was the adoption of Linux. Last year it was Oracle which gave a Linux combination; this time around almost all major players are doing so.

SMBs are emerging as important customers for database companies. In 2005, the growth in the SMB sector was a strong 70 percent. As Kaushik Bagchi, Country Leader, DB2 Information Management Software, Software Group, IBM India puts it, “Pure relational database systems are also going to rise in the SMB sector as most of the SMBs are looking at implementing core applications with the trend towards packaged applications in this sector.”

The large picture that one gets when looking at the database market as a whole is the clear shift in the nature of the database from pure relational database to relational plus unstructured data such as documents, e-mail and corporate digital assets. From simple database management to information management, the database shift is significant and innovative.

Compliance is also a major factor that you come face to face with while looking for the reasons behind the database segment growth. To meet compliance requirements such as SOX and Clause 49 of SEBI, enterprises will be forced to manage and handle the data they have in a more efficient way.

How BI helps

BI helps organisations in taking better and more effective business decisions by collecting, storing and analysing the data with some applications and sophisticated programs. The gathered data is converted to information and then to knowledge by means of enterprise resource planning, data mining and online analytical processing (OLAP). Embedding BI in database systems enables higher productivity and better efficiency.

"The success of Linux is primarily due to its enterprise-ready features, cost factors and a robust/secure OS" -V G Sundar Ram Senior Director Database Pre-sales Asia Pacific region Oracle

The understanding among enterprises that without BI they will not be able to grow their business has forced them to implement it. 2005 witnessed a significant growth in this field. V G Sundar Ram, Senior Director, Database Pre-sales, Asia Pacific region, Oracle Corporation says, “We see more companies viewing BI as a centralised organisation-wide project.”

The need to have a data-storing mechanism and keep up with the rest of the crowd has brought BI into greater focus. “BI is going to be important as many organisations have invested in core applications such as ERP, core banking, billing and CRM in telecom and e-governance applications,” says Bagchi. The Reserve Bank of India’s guidance on Basel II compliance for banks in India will also help the BI market. “BI is no longer a fashion statement but a reality,” declares Bagchi.

BI could be counted as a driver for enhancement in database technology as DBMS are now incorporating BI systems. For instance, Microsoft has included Reporting Services functionality with its SQL Server; this can be seen as a perfect example of BI penetrating deep into database systems. Informs Karun Thareja, Senior Product Manager, Microsoft India, “It provides greater efficiency in report performance, presentation and distribution. Similarly, higher-end analytics like OLAP and data mining also drive core feature functions within the DBMS and are an integral part of the SQL Server 2005 offering significant enhancements over previous versions.”

Database companies are hopeful of growth in BI business in the next year as well. Arun Ramachandran, Head of Presales, Sybase India comments, “BI has grown at a good rate in 2005, and will see better growth in 2006. An area of convergence of BI and content management is emerging with companies needing unified access to structured data (transactional systems like ERP and billing) and unstructured data (e-mail and documents).” Ramachandran expects BI to play a more active role from 2006 onwards as it would provide the productivity required at the edge of a company’s functional periphery.

The role of content management

In general, content management is a system to track and manage the content in a firm by means of a systematic process. Usually it contains some technologies to support the lifecycle of information. Content management offers a better platform for organisations to manage and evaluate the content they have.

Embedding content management in database systems is preferred by database administrators because of the benefits it offers. As database companies have started realising the importance of building content management systems into database systems, high preference is given by enterprises to those databases which include content management systems.

Content management acts as an application which sits on top of the DBMS functionality. The effect of content management on database systems is different from the effect of BI. Thareja explains: “Content management is an application which can be different in look and feel depending upon the type of content to be managed— physical documents, electronic documents or Web content.

DBMS in a content management application only acts as a storage mechanism for storing security settings, templates, configuration settings and the like along with the pointers to the actual content which largely resides out of the database, typically on the file system. “Content management is stretching database systems to the limit as they have to store more data in the DBMS. Microsoft is pushing content management in a big way with its Content Management Server, which in conjunction with the SharePoint Server delivers an end-to-end solution for customers to manage their content in a highly advanced way.

Bagchi considers BI and content management to be the flag-bearers in boosting database sales over the years. “Content management is another area of growth where use of unstructured data in the form of application forms, processing forms, invoices etc in core applications requires proper management of the unstructured data in a secure way,” says Bagchi. The implementation of information systems will get good momentum as content management embraces database systems.

The growth of content management systems was hindered by the limitations of the proprietary storage which the content management solutions had been using over the ages. But with time people have started looking at content management as an integral part of their growth.

Ram elaborates, “The result is that people see the need to manage unstructured data along with structured data which makes management not just easier but more intuitive for an end-user who does not have to search separately in different data stores. Also, security needs for unstructured data are not less than that for structured data. All this points to the obvious solution—manage unstructured data in the database along with structured data and control access in the same way.”

As technology advances, the next step in database systems could be the convergence of BI and content management. Some companies have already started working on the same, and others are getting ready to have a go at it.

In India BI scores a bit higher than content management. Says Thareja, “In India, BI is more pervasive than content management, and has a richer ecosystem of systems integrators and ISVs who are aligned to provide solutions to customers. On the other hand, content management has a greater play and adoption in the BFSI, telecom and government sectors.” But comparing the two trends would not be a good idea as they serve two entirely different purposes.

The Linux path

"Convergence of BI and content management is emerging with companies needing unified access to structured and unstructured data" -Arun Ramachandran Head of Pre-sales Sybase India

Open Source has always been attracting enterprises because of the cost factor. The impact caused by the entry of Linux has been so great that it forced database majors to have a long look at the new kid on the block.

According to Ramachandran, “The reason for the growth of Linux is primarily driven by the platform’s ability to provide a simplified growth plan which allows database infrastructure to grow horizontally in a cost-effective manner. We predict an increased uptake for Linux-based systems for not only traditional OLTP applications but also specific BI environments.”

IBM has also benefitted over the years from the increased adoption of Linux. Says Bagchi, “Linux is one of the leading platforms for IBM in the database market.”

Oracle had first made its Database 8i available on Linux way back in 1998, and has come a long way since then in its compatibility with Linux. Comments Ram, “Oracle has been able to make inroads in the Indian database segment due to its compatibility with Linux. Oracle India has implemented a number of projects running its technology and applications software on the Linux OS. These include projects at the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation; South Asian Petrochem; Kotak Mahindra Bank; IDBI Bank;the Department of Treasury, Government of West Bengal; and BSNL.”

He attributes the success of Linux to two factors, the first being the enterprise-ready feature of Linux, and the second the significant cost factor. “Not to forget the most important feature—it is a robust and secure OS,” points out Ram.

Taking SMBs seriously

With the SMB segment showing strong double-digit growth, database companies would not like to let the opportunity pass by. These companies have started taking the SMBs seriously. According to Bagchi, “IBM plans to lead the market with content management, BI and information integration solutions, increase its foot-print with ISV applications, and grow in the SMB market.”

Sybase’s Adaptive Server Enterprise (ASE) 15 has features specially designed for SMBs. Explains Rama-chandran, “The concerns from SMBs have always been around the ability to grow on demand in a cost-effective manner. ASE 15 has benefits for SMBs on the Linux environment, as studies from analysts show. With self-management features that are now available, it also provides help to SMBs that don’t want to invest in a large database administration environment for their mission-critical systems.”

Microsoft too is not shying away from the chance to grab some action in the SMB segment. It offers the Small Business Server aimed specifically at the SMB segment. Says Thareja, “We provide the SQL Server for SMB users to start using server-side technologies at a low price-point and thereby get a significantly higher return on investment. At a little higher price-point we have the SQL Server Workgroup Edition which has been available since late 2005 and provides functionality for various types of applications SMBs run.”

With the SQL Server, Microsoft is aiming at the BI requirements of smaller banks. For this purpose, the company is working with 15 ISVs such as Ramco, Sonata and Capgemini. According to Thareja, the SQL Server for Small and Medium Businesses showed enormous growth of 70 percent in 2005—another clear indication that the SMB segment is flexing its muscles in the database systems.

A few concerns

When it comes to databases, the CIOs have some concerns. Thareja points out that total cost of ownership and skill availability are the major concerns for CIOs. “Other concerns include system availability, reliability, performance, security and BI capability,” he says.

Vendor offerings

With its database and BI products, Sybase is targeting the Linux market. Says Ramachandran, “A number of organisations that may have outgrown the Microsoft environment will find our proposition attractive, and they will form an area of focus for Sybase.”

Oracle is pushing its grid computing initiative at the moment, and has big plans to increase the implementation of Oracle Database 10g among enterprises. The company has launched the beta version of Oracle Database XE.

Ram says that this beta version of Oracle Database XE offers application developers, database administrators and students a free starter database to develop and deploy their applications. Oracle plans to have a General Availability launch during which it will launch the re-defined version on XE. The company has made a big impact with its grid computing initiative, and has made inroads in the database market with its Database 10g and Database XE.

IBM hopes to have a deeper penetration in the database market with its newly-released IBM DB2 Express-C. Bagchi says that some of the key products from the IBM portfolio of DB2 V8.2.2 are specifically tailored for the SAP environment. Universal Database II comes in four editions—DB2 UDB Express edition, DB2 UDB workgroup edition, DB2 UDB enterprise edition, and DB2 UDB data warehouse edition.

Microsoft is pushing the limits in the database arena with its SQL Server 2005. The product had a successful launch with the number of present customers being 250.

Truly, the database has moved from being just an application for storage to being an instrument for managing information intelligently.

toms@expresscomputeronline.com