Database Management Challenges

“Content is king” used to be the catchphrase of the business world. These days, “Data is king” rings a little bit more true. Companies around the world are becoming more and more dependent on data in every aspect of their daily operations. We even interpret the value of a company or a specific operation by the performance and function of its data. 

Data management is a top priority for companies wanting to stay competitive in the data-centric world we live in. The Database Management System (DBMS) market grew to 58.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2020. 

With the increase in remote workforces caused by the pandemic, databases have transitioned from on-site to the cloud or hybrid cloud versions.

‍Gartner predicts that 75% of all databases will be migrated to a cloud platform by 2022. 

How secure are your data?

Having a lot of data or highly valuable data doesn’t mean much if your data isn’t accessible and secure. In today’s business landscape, organizations need to make sure that their critical enterprise systems and apps are extremely secure.

This can be a challenge when employees, executives, and others need access to the data at all times and from myriad remote locations.

This can present issues in terms of storing and accumulating high volumes of data, ensuring that databases and apps can run productively without crashing, and that database management stays compliant with continuously changing regulatory mandates. 

These changes are creating a bevy of database management challenges for administrators, who are facing a mix of increased workloads, cloud migration, new technologies, and more.

In the last few years, the amount and nature of data have grown significantly, and the way companies use data has changed.

Main database management challenges 

Let’s take a closer look at some of the primary database management challenges companies face today. 

1. Optimal Database Performance

It goes without saying that keeping a business up and running is a time-consuming operation. As a result, database management often falls to the wayside, causing the health of your database to suffer.

This is a major challenge for companies that have started to gather more and more data than ever before. Sometimes, this data gets put into databases that aren’t designed to handle it.

Other times, data doesn’t get organized properly so it becomes difficult to use it for machine learning and other objectives. Some companies even run out of storage space completely, putting a total halt to their ability to acquire new data. 

All of this boils down to weak spots in a company’s database design. It is extremely important to conduct regular audits and checks of database performance to ensure it is running at an optimal level.

If it isn’t, it is probably time to consider upgrading to a redesigned, all-inclusive database that can store and allow access to new kinds of data. 

2. Cloud Migration

These days, everything happens in the cloud. So it’s no surprise that more and more businesses are relying on the cloud for database operation and storage.

With 80% of organizations now using a mix of cloud and on-premises database environments, one of the biggest challenges in database management has been migrating to the cloud.

To avoid issues and manage the complexity of the move to bigger, hybrid systems, companies need new ways of monitoring everything from their local servers and virtual machines to cloud services.

To do this efficiently, it calls for one single view of hybrid SQL Server environments so that database managers can stay on top of their entire estate. 

3. Migration to New Technologies 

In addition to navigating the challenges of cloud migration, an added difficulty is the necessary shift to newer technologies.

Microsoft no longer provides extended support, security updates, or mainstream support for the SQL Server 2008. Companies that continue to use the database can’t guarantee that it is secure, which is a big problem when managing critical information that requires protection.

It also poses some issues in terms of staying compliant with industry regulations and standards. 

Because of these changes, many organizations are facing the need to migrate all of their data to newer versions of SQL Server 2008, both on-site and in the cloud.

For most companies, this is no small task and will involve a great amount of data processing to make the shift and have their updated database in working order. 

4. Hybrid and Larger Estates

Not only are database administrators managing more complex estates comprised of both on-site and cloud databases, but the databases are also getting much, much bigger.

Companies are running more databases across their organizations, which means database management and optimization is much more intensive and laborious.

Companies are starting to need team members that are dedicated to looking after the health and performance of multiple databases at once – and resolving the issues that come up.

In other words, database managers have to do a lot more work without any increase in resources or availability of time. For this reason, many organizations have turned to third-party monitoring tools to cover some of the tasks of data governance and maintaining their data platform.

5. Compliance

The first six months of 2019 saw over 3,800 publicly disclosed breaches, totaling more than 4.1 billion records. These databases were vulnerable mainly because their security guidelines were lengthy and complex, which made people not read and implement them.

When a company’s data storage includes information such as employee personnel files, customer billing history, sales trends, financial material, intellectual property inventory, personal identifiers, etc., it is vital to keep it secure and protected. 

Different types of data require different levels of cybersecurity and protection. But, as a general rule, all sensitive information needs to stay compliant with the various government regulations, such as Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), HIPAA and GDPR, the European Union Directive on Data Protection (EU-DPD).

It is also crucial to have authentication and gateway solutions to confirm user legitimacy and appropriate data access. Failing to protect your data can lead to security breaches by hackers or even employees.

These data breaches can result in a huge financial loss and, even worse, irreparable damage to a company’s reputation and future. 

How Adservio can help

When done right, your company can find solutions to the challenges of database management, finding ways to boost your scalability, avoid data loss, and improve data security. 

Ready to learn more? Reach out to our team of experts to discuss how your company can address database management challenges based on your business needs and find the best solutions to increase your business efficiency.