MongoDB Looks to the Enterprise

With more than 10,000 instances of MongoDB downloaded every day, it’s pretty clear demand for the open source document database is soaring. It's an alternative to a relational database that developers can set up without needing the help of database administrators (DBAs). Because of this, however, suddenly there is a mass proliferation of MongoDB applications that aren't particularly well-integrated with anything else inside the enterprise.

At the MongoDB World 2015 conference this week MongoDB made it pretty clear that its top priority is to address that issue. For example, a forthcoming release of the MongoDB database not only includes tighter integration with business intelligence applications based on SQL, it also will make it a lot easier for DBAs to define schemas with the document database.

When it comes to document databases, solution providers must be aware that not every DBA welcomes their existence inside their organization. For the most part SQL is the lingua franca of business IT. Applications that run on document databases are built mainly using JavaScript. But the data that resides in those applications is not easily accessible from any other application in the enterprise.

Kelly Stirman, vice president of Strategy at MongoDB, said MongoDB is looking for partners to help them better integrate MongoDB within the enterprise IT environments.

In addition, Stirman noted that adoption of MongoDB within mobile computing and Internet of Things (IoT) environments is starting to gain a significant amount of traction. In both cases, MongoDB creates a platform where transaction and analytics can be processed together simultaneously, with the results then being shared with other applications that don’t have to be modified to support new types of endpoint devices. The end result is a more flexible IT environment that doesn’t require any rework of legacy applications running, for example, on a mainframe, he said.

As one of the most widely deployed instance of a NoSQL database, MongoDB has gained a wide following among developers that resent some of the restrictions that a relational database model naturally imposes. But try as they might there’s no getting away from the fact that SQL is the dominant query language inside the enterprise. Bridging that gap should create a trove of new opportunities for solution providers well into 2016 and beyond.