Beware the Data Deluge: Modernize Your Database Now

Many of today’s industry leaders are actively planning their future by modernizing their technology to optimize whatever that future holds. One element that is and will be foundational to all current, emerging, and future technology is data, and controlling that data means keeping up with all its current and emerging varieties and formats. Consequently, the database management system (DBMS) is becoming increasingly crucial for future preparedness as developers introduce more diverse and complex forms of data every day.

MongoDB has quickly risen in popularity, with over 70 million downloads worldwide and a #1 ‘most wanted’ ranking by developers, as reported by StackOverflow. Its flexibility maximizes the value of current data stores, as well as provides the capacity to accept, integrate, and maximize the value of future data, too. If you’re considering modernizing your database, perhaps it’s time to take a closer look at this non-relational database option.

The Future of Data

The size of the world’s data stores is growing exponentially. By 2025, experts predict the global volume of information will reach 175 zettabytes (a ‘1’ followed by 21 zeros). Not only does the sheer amount of incoming data intimidate people, but so does the anticipated number of sources that will be generating it.

Three such sources are notable, not because of what they offer today, but because of the vast wealth of data they will generate in the not-so-distant future:

The Internet of Things

Since the term ‘Internet of Things‘ (IoT) was first coined in 1997, the global enthusiasm for its possible uses has exploded. Businesses and industries now rely on IoT-powered supply chains to track every widget from design to ultimate installation, and the data lakes it has generated are immense and growing.

New capacities are emerging, too, and the demand for more precise IoT data streams remains high.

In the consumer world, the momentum hasn’t been as impressive, primarily because of security issues. Every IoT-connected device act as an open portal to the digital universe, and hackers are already exploiting those vulnerabilities. However, both IoT design and security capabilities are also evolving, so experts expect a rise in consumer generated IoT data, too.

Virtual Reality

The value of virtual reality (VR) is its ability to provide the user with an organic, real-world ‘experience’ without leaving the comfort of their home or office. Its software offers a 360° digital view of the ‘world,’ and users experience the same sensations of movement, visual effects, and exhilaration as they would if what they were seeing was live and in-person.

For a technology that launched with such promise, however, VR programming has never really caught on with consumers, but not because it doesn’t offer value. Instead, the industry cites a low volume of programming, high costs, and cumbersome equipment as the pain points that have dulled its sheen. As the technology evolves, so will the attributes of VR, which will release again, multitudes of data streams.

Big Data

Big Data isn’t new; it’s only getting bigger. Analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning multiply the value of existing data by applying it in different contexts and formats. Every enterprise that has been building a comprehensive data store now has more data individually than even existed in all sources before 2000. There are many, many bits of information and insights available right now and ready to be mined without adding any more.

The challenge with the Big Data storehouse, however, is that legacy databases can’t use the information stored within them or, with some data types, even access that data. So those insights sit idle, consuming space but providing no value.

Each of these three technologies offers incredible promise, regardless of the drawbacks that have impaired their full implementation. That, however, will change as the technologies improve to overcome those barriers. When the controlling technologies of IoT, VR, and Big Data are fully operational and safe, the resulting deluge of data will be massive.

MongoDB: A Dam to Contain the Deluge

The incoming wave of Immense Data (as opposed to simply ‘Big’ data) is why you need a database that can embrace all that incoming information. Today’s relational databases are already hard-pressed to process, homogenize, and integrate the data flowing in from mobile devices, multiple corporate locations, and the myriad of websites and social presences that most companies now manage. They will be even more stressed trying to control the incoming deluge of information, and your developers will spend even more time just trying to keep your system afloat. To remain competitive, your database must be prepared to manage all of these disparate data types and formats.

MongoDB designed its flexible database management system to accept, absorb, and incorporate those emerging data bits. A MongoDB Premier Partner like Datavail can help you prepare for and maximize the full value of your current and emerging corporate data using MongoDB as your DBMS. Contact us today.

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