Dell Software has announced findings of a survey of database deployments showing that while unstructured data types and new database management systems play an increasing role in the modern data ecosystem, structured data in relational database management systems (RDBMS) remains the foundation of the information infrastructure in most companies. Although advancements in the ability to capture, store, retrieve and analyse new forms of unstructured data have garnered significant attention, the Dell survey indicates that most organisations continue to focus primarily on managing structured data, and will do so for the foreseeable future.

Dell Software commissioned Unisphere Research to conduct a survey of database administrators (DBAs) and others charged with managing corporate data. According to the survey, while management of unstructured data will likely become more prevalent as advanced analytics initiatives continue to gain traction, structured data still makes up 75 percent of data under management for more than two-thirds of organisations, with nearly one-third of organisations not yet actively managing unstructured data at all.

Though the survey reveals a relative diversity of database platforms in use across organizations, Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server remain the most common platforms organizations use to support mission-critical data. According to the survey, approximately 78 percent of respondents indicated that they were running mission-critical data on Oracle, while 72 percent said they were using Microsoft SQL Server as a platform for their mission-critical data. Beyond the top two, MySQL, IBM DB2, and MongoDB represented the next most popular database management systems.

Moreover, although the growth of unstructured data has garnered most of the attention, Dell’s survey shows structured data growing at an even faster rate. While more than one-third of respondents indicated that structured data is growing at a rate of 25 percent or more annually, fewer than 30 percent of respondents said the same about their unstructured data. Additional findings of note related to data growth include:

• 83 percent of organisations cite growth in transactional data (including e-commerce) as one of the most important sources of structured data growth within their organization, with 51 percent also citing growth in management data, such as ERP systems.

• Although there is an increasing industry focus on the proliferation of social data, an increase in the creation of internally generated documents was seen as the top driver of unstructured data growth, identified by more than 50 percent of respondents.

Although respondents indicated interest in adding more database management systems to achieve a multitude of benefits, the adoption of technologies such as NoSQL and Hadoop is not yet truly widespread. Only 10 percent of respondents mentioned they are currently using or deploying a NoSQL database, while 56 percent of respondents claim their companies do not have plans to adopt one within the next three years. The results are similar for Hadoop. Approximately 20 percent of organizations surveyed are currently using or deploying Hadoop, with 57 percent indicating their companies have no plans to incorporate Hadoop technology within the next three years.

However, the survey does provide many indicators that more widespread adoption of these newer platforms may in fact be soon to come. The need to support new analytical use cases, which increasingly involves unstructured data and big data technologies, was cited as the most important factor driving adoption of new database management systems, with the need for greater flexibility and performance closely behind.

In addition, the appearance of MongoDB as one of the five most commonly used systems indicates a growing acceptance of NoSQL technology. The indicators are particularly strong for larger, enterprise organizations. Of note:

• Approximately 70 percent of respondents using MongoDB are running more than 100 databases, 30 percent are running more than 500 databases, and nearly 60 percent work for companies with more than 5,000 employees.

• Similarly, 60 percent of respondents currently using Hadoop are running more than 100 databases, 45 percent are running more than 500 databases, and approximately two-thirds work for companies with more than 1,000 employees.

As modern information infrastructure continues to evolve, so too will the role of the DBA. According to the Dell survey, a growing number of DBAs are now responsible for managing both relational and non-relational database technologies, a trend that will likely continue as Hadoop and NoSQL become more common in the enterprise. For example:

• Among respondents in companies with both Hadoop and NoSQL installed, DBAs are responsible for managing the non-relational technologies 72 percent of the time.

• Roughly 70 percent of the respondents said the DBAs in their organizations were responsible for managing databases from at least two vendors, while 7 percent indicated they were responsible for managing databases from five or more vendors.

• Almost half of the DBAs manage more than 25 database instances each, and almost 10 percent manage more than 100 database instances each.

The survey of 300 database administrators and others charged with managing corporate data included a wide range of companies in terms of the size and industry. Nearly two-thirds of the respondents came from organizations with more than 1,000 employees, with more than a dozen industries represented. The survey took place in the first quarter of 2015.