Is NoSQL Database Storage Ready for the Enterprise? Survey Says Yes

NoSQL-type databases, like Cassandra and MongoDB, have made a lot of headlines. But how many companies are actually using them in production, and for what purposes? A new report out this week from Datas IO provides some interesting insight.

The report, which was released Tuesday, compares how companies of different sizes are using traditional databases — think Oracle MySQL — and “next-generation” alternatives. The latter category consists of databases that discard the rigid SQL-style storage and retriveal process in favor of more flexible ways to store data. Next-generation databases, notably ones called NoSQL because they are the opposite of SQL-based platforms, are designed to perform well in an age when data tends to be stored on massive scales in the cloud.

Unsurprisingly, the report, which was based on a survey of 204 IT professionals who are responsible for database practices at their organizations, shows that there is a strong interest in next-generation storage technologies. More than 75 percent of respondents said they expect next-generation databases to become important at their organizations over the next two years.

More notable are some of the metrics regarding how organizations expect to deploy next-generation databases. Data analytics tops the list of use cases, which is also not a shocker. But analytics are followed closely by IoT and security apps as reasons for adopting next-generation databases, according to the report.

Also interesting is the finding that MongoDB and Cassandra are currently in the lead for next-generation database deployment. They beat out Microsoft’s and Amazon’s cloud-based distributed databases. That’s notable since it suggests that — despite all the hype about the cloud — databases are an area where on-premise or private cloud deployment remains more popular than the public cloud.

Full survey results are available from Datas IO here.