by Angela Guess
Ravi Mayuram, SVP of Couchbase, recently wrote in Enterprise Tech, “If data is getting more plentiful and hardware is cheaper and more powerful, why aren’t we doing more to put the information we have to better use? The answer is that we’ve lacked the right tools for processing information. NoSQL databases fill the gap by handling and instantly processing information that’s been out of reach for 20th century relational data management systems.”
He goes on, “Slack, the increasingly popular cloud-based team collaboration tool, is no ordinary software, but its story is becoming more familiar. Successful apps must scale faster than ever as users rush to adopt the new thing. Every login, every click, every interaction with other users, every new document or message created is data to be stored and processed. The sheer magnitude of it would be mind-boggling if we weren’t seeing the same patterns over and over and over again. Scale is the defining and differentiating criteria of modern software serving users.”
Mayuram continues, “These sorts of connected applications share two main characteristics. First, they need predictable performance. Second, they need to be able to scale and change quickly. Think of how many times you have witnessed applications gain traction in days or even hours. These are the apps that deliver so well it’s as if the developers read your thoughts, delivering what you asked for before you asked for it. NoSQL systems make this possible by handling unstructured data as deftly as a relational system handles columns and rows.”
photo credit: Slack