EnterpriseDB offers enterprise-class products and services based on PostgreSQL, an independent open source database widely used by enterprises across the world for managing data. CIOs who face pressure to do more with fewer resources, turn to open-source database solutions from companies like EnterpriseDB to raise the RoI from software investments.
Ashutosh Sarkar, senior director – Partner Sales and Alliances (INDIA, ASEAN & ANZ), EnterpriseDB, in an interaction with InfotechLead, discussed the latest trends surrounding the software and data analytics market and how EnterpriseDB solutions help enterprises meet the challenges associated with managing data.
With open source database from EnterpriseDB, CIOs can deliver on the performance requirements of their business but for 80 percent (or more) less than the cost of their proprietary database vendor. “Since EnterpriseDB’s database offerings are all subscription based there are no CAPEX costs to worry about, all fees can be treated as OPEX,” he said.
Enterprises are turning to open source database mostly to avoid expanding the use of their existing, more costly proprietary vendor, or to support new applications so they don’t face rising costs from expanding their existing relationships. For example, Oracle customers are increasingly turning to solutions like EnterpriseDB to escape high licensing and maintenance fees.
Sarkar’s advise to CIOs to improve ROI from big data deployments is to ignore all the hype and superlatives surrounding big data and carefully evaluate whether they need new solutions or whether their needs can be met with their existing relational database. The demands of applications that power many enterprise operations can easily be met by a relational database.
Many enterprises deploy Hadoop alongside their legacy IT systems, and that helps them to combine old data and new data sets in interesting ways. EnterpriseDB also developed and released a Hadoop connector for Postgres Plus Advanced Server in 2011. “There was a growing demand for a data bridge between Hadoop and SQL databases and we moved quickly on that,” Sarkar added.
Sarkar stressed on the fact that CIOs should turn to open source based option to database mix as it allows them to match the right database to the right job at the right price. Enterprises need to recognize that open source products cost less not because they do less but because of an efficient business model that marries a large volunteer base with a go-to-market commercial entity focused on enterprise needs, he added.
Considering the benefits of open source software, many government agencies have moved aggressively to adopt open source. Many governments have created open source initiatives to encourage more widespread adoption of open source solutions because of their low cost and the greater flexibility they represent and we help agencies meet their mandates.
Open source database solutions are also gaining popularity among financial services companies as they will give them an edge mainly due to the low cost and greater flexibility. There is growing interest and adoption by telecom, insurance and retail companies in Indian market, EnterpriseDB said.
For enterprises, EnterpriseDB offers Postgres Plus Advanced Server and a series of tools and add-ons, including a management console, the Postgres Enterprise Manager, and solutions for replication and high availability. The company also provides support and services, including a Postgres Architectural Health Check and a database environment assessment.
EnterpriseDB also enables enterprises to migrate to cloud-based database services through its solutions like Postgres Plus Cloud Database, which Sarkar claims, is a true cloud database, and not a database that happens to be hosted in the cloud.
Explaining the advantages of Postgres Plus Cloud Database, Sarkar said, “If the cloud database has not been optimized to take advantage of cloud features like elasticity of machine size, storage and number of machines, it still requires a great deal of time to set up and manage. Our Postgres Plus Cloud Database automatically takes advantage of additional resources, such as server, power and network capacity in response to fluctuations in demand for processing power.”
On the other hand, a database merely ‘in the cloud’ still requires human intervention to add resources and to release them and typically require more resources to set up and configure.
Postgres Plus Cloud Database is popular with small to medium size companies who lack the time, skills or money to manage databases, Sarkar said. “They find the self-service nature of sophisticated database setups complete with automatic backup and scaling out resources in response to usage demand, allows them to focus more on their business instead of the database administration, configuration, management, etc.”
Regarding the growing adoption of cloud services, Sarkar said there is no single industry vertical dominating the adoption of their Postgres Plus Cloud Database but there are certain kinds of users drawn to what they provide. The main reasons for this popularity are the low cost and the pay-as-you-go pricing model delivered by EntepriseDB.
Rajani Baburajan
