My Predictions for the Cloud Database Market in 2022
2021 was a busy year for cloud databases. The Big 3 cloud providers—Microsoft, AWS, and Google Cloud—continued to grow in size and influence not just as cloud service providers, but also as database platforms. At the same time, cloud-native startups such as Cockroach Labs, DataStax, and SingleStore challenged larger, established vendors like Oracle, IBM, and SAP.
There’s a lot of momentum carrying into 2022. In my latest Cloud Database Report podcast, I talk about some of the major trends I see playing out in the year ahead. You can listen to the podcast here:
Podcast: Cloud Database Predictions for 2022
Here are a few of my observations on products and platforms.
We will see more Exabyte-size databases, which are 1,000 times larger than the petabyte databases that many businesses operate today. We’re moving into the realm of extreme data, and that’s going to require even greater scalability than most companies are experienced with.
Database migrations from on-premises systems to the cloud will continue to be a major trend, and not always an easy one, which will require new tools and services.
Database management will continue to get easier, as cloud database providers offer fully managed services, "serverless" capabilities, and autonomous databases, all of which reduce the amount of provisioning and hands-on management required.
More business people will begin to pay attention to who has access to data and where data is stored, which means conversations about governance and data distribution will become more of a business conversation.
Also, I see three trends in the competitive landscape:
Immovable objects (incumbents like Oracle and IBM) meet irresistible forces (startups like Neo4j and Yugabyte). These emerging companies are coming on strong, and the old guard must continue reinventing themselves.
The Big 3 cloud providers are the new center of gravity for data management. AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure have momentum with their portfolios of purpose-built databases, and other cloud services like analytics and AI.
And last, Snowflake, with its data cloud model, has leap frogged old style centralized data warehouses. I expect more database providers to offer their own Snowflake-like services.
It’s a Real Battleground!
For more on the latest trends in the cloud database market, I invite you to register (it’s free) for Acceleration Economy's Cloud Database Battleground, which I will be hosting on January 27, 2022.
Participating companies include Couchbase, Cockroach Labs, DataStax, Redis, SingleStore, and Yugabyte.
Each vendor will answer the following five questions. Please join us!
