Has the database market attempted to solve data complexity — only to create even more complexity?
That’s the argument of Raj Verma, CEO of SingleStore, who thinks he has the answer to the plethora of databases found in many of today’s IT environments: one database that can handle operational data, analytics, and many different data types in a single, unified platform.
It’s not a new idea — the database industry went down the path of “universal databases” back in the 1990’s (i.e. Illustra, Informix) — and SingleStore isn’t the only vendor with an all-purpose DBMS. But the company is establishing its database as a viable solution among the many that are out there. For that reason, I added SingleStore to the Cloud Database Report’s Top 20 list earlier this year (see below).
You may remember SingleStore by its former name, MemSQL. The company was rebranded in 2020, and has been growing, expanding, and building its database for modern applications.
On the latest episode of the Cloud Database Report podcast, I talked to CEO Raj Verma about the rebranding of SingleStore, multi-model databases, the competitive landscape — and Verma’s ambitious goal of being on the short list of preferred database providers for large organizations.
“We feel that enterprises will spend 95% of their database dollars on probably three companies in the future,” Verma says. “And we want to be one of them.”
Recent moves
SingleStore has hired two Microsoft veterans to lead engineering and product development. Shireesh Thota joins as SVP of engineering to oversee development of the company’s multi-model SQL database. And Yatharth Gupta head ups product management/design as VP of product management.
In an expanded partnership, IBM has agreed to license and support the SingleStore database. SingleStore was already available via IBM’s Cloud Pak for Data and in the Red Hat Marketplace. IBM has also become an investor in SingleStore.
Last September, SingleStore announced $80 million in Series F funding. Investors include Dell, HPE, and Google Ventures, among others.
As you can see, SingleStore is associating itself with some of the biggest names in enterprise tech. While that doesn’t assure success, it certainly lends credibility to its unified database proposition and strategic direction.
All of which serves as the backdrop for my conversation with Raj Verma.
Key topics from the interview include:
The rebranding of SingleStore
How 'Database 3.0' is different from earlier eras
What is data intensity?
All-purpose databases vs. purpose-built DBMS's
What organizations can do to simplify database sprawl
Rethinking the post-pandemic workplace
What’s next for SingleStore
Quotes from the podcast:
“Our mission is very simple. It is to unify and simplify modern data.”
“The volume, variety, and velocity of data just inundated enterprise organizations.”
“We feel the future will belong to a database that can combine a vast majority of workloads in a hybrid, multi-cloud environment.”
“The personality of data is ever evolving.”
“The shelf life of data is going down dramatically, and the volume is increasingly. So without speed, you're going to be done — you know what I mean?”
“This convergence of databases is a foregone conclusion, in my opinion....I am fairly confident that there will be a massive consolidation in the database space.”
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