By Stuart Fisher, Regional Vice President, Asia Pacific and Japan, Couchbase

Traditional databases that have dominated the market for the last 30 years were developed and built at a time when data structure was principally static. The collection, processing, and transmission of data were straightforward, so the capacity managed by traditional and highly structured databases was deemed adequate.

Fast-forward to today’s digital age where data is processed from an infinite number of collection points — practically every single device in the world. Every nanosecond, IoT (Internet of Things) is driving a monumental input of data with an expectation of instantaneous processing across multiple platforms, be it on messaging, e-commerce, travel, or booking apps. The computing power required to process the proliferation of new types of data is unattainable with on-premise legacy technology. DevOps’ teams in Asia have also come to understand that the smartest way to keep pace with the rapid digital transformation among enterprises is through the adoption of next-generation technology.

According to Forrester, enterprises in the Asia Pacific region will see an increase of 40% in investments in smart infrastructure in 2022. The ability to cope with more stringent demands in data processing and collection has become a key consideration in the digital transformation strategy of many enterprise organizations with mission-critical applications. DevOps teams have recognized the need for a powerful platform that is fast, agile, scalable, and highly available for online and offline operations.

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Modern databases are designed to be nimble for the development of new applications. This is particularly crucial in the developer environment where speed may be the difference between failure and success. According to IDC, developers and DevOps professionals continue to face route-to-market challenges as the demand for convenient and user-friendly applications is created and deployed at a faster rate. However, DevOps teams are hindered by infrastructure challenges that have had an impact on automation and the rolling out of applications. These legacy infrastructure, or traditional databases, are on their way out the door as Deloitte forecasts that demand for public cloud services will continue, tripling to more than $116 billion by 2024. The rapid adoption of the public cloud unlocks the opportunity for leading enterprises to invest in modern database applications that are easy to use, highly dextrous, and have the ability to deploy customized experiences that can go to market at speed, in essence simplifying their database management.

As more applications are developed on scalable cloud infrastructure, the need for a cloud database is vital to ensure low latency between application and database. By enabling public cloud capability, DevOps teams are able to situate the database at a specific point that better serves the business — for example, it could be placed geographically, by region, or city. These specified collection points enable faster data processing from transaction to deployment. This allows for superior performance and underscores the reason modern databases need to be agile, particularly at scale. The more nimble a database is, the more workload (operational, transactional, and analytical) it can support, giving developers a broad and flexible toolset for application building and development, while eliminating the need for other technologies.

The pandemic sped up the need to migrate from legacy technology to the cloud as many organizations were forced to prioritize business continuity, data security, recovery, and availability. The benefits offered by cloud-native technology providers allow enterprises to transition to the public cloud without having to commit to massive upfront investment in infrastructure or licenses, thus alleviating migration concerns. It is important for vendors to empower enterprises with the flexibility to adopt a hybrid approach to their database, so they can maintain their core business while moving their microservices to the cloud seamlessly.

In summary, adopting and implementing next generational enterprise databases is becoming a crucial element in an organization’s digital transformation strategy. At Couchbase, we are committed to supporting enterprises in their digitalization journey by developing tools that are simple-but-powerful, and enabling data management from almost anywhere. Modern databases must provide security and privacy with a flexible pricing model supported by “cloud economics,” allowing enterprises to start small and grow with the service.

Couchbase is a NoSQL vendor that develops Couchbase Server, an open-source, NoSQL, document-oriented database optimized for interactive applications.