Less than a week ago, Redgate released their annual State of the Database Landscape report. You can read about the methodology and see some of the results on this page. If you want the entire report, you can download that from the same page.

What I really love about this survey is that it is very low on opinions and sticks largely to the facts. As a person working with data, most of these facts will make you feel that you are not alone. Sometimes, it is easy to start thinking that your company is the only one in a given situation. 

For example, the survey included questions about how many database platforms are in use at an organization. I know at my last company, we had several platforms in use, which led to interesting support concerns. Most of the platforms were to support third party products, not just because a developer had a preference (most, though not necessarily all). As I started to deal with other platforms that other departments used, it felt like we were outliers and “no one else would be doing these things”.  Seeing that 26% of companies have more than 4 platforms to deal with makes me realize that I was definitely not alone. Interestingly, the number of platforms used has trended down, and that number was down from 32% the previous year.

Some of the stats may reinforce things that make you a bit crazy. As a DBA, one of the things that scares us the most is the security of our data. Who is using it and why? This concern isn’t always a popular one. For example, there are 39% of people surveyed who weren’t concerned with data security and privacy when working with AI? And if that isn’t a bit disturbing, 10% have none of the concerns that were included…accuracy, reliability, ethical concerns, support, etc. I won’t suggest that DBAs aren’t a little bit too paranoid at times, but I will always choose to be too paranoid than not paranoid at all when it comes to the security of a company’s data.

And these are just a couple of stats that stand out in the preview of the report! So grab your copy, analyze the analysis for yourself, and share your takes from it as well. Link to this article or leave a comment, and I may share your takes in a later post.