Data exists in disconnected, decentralised silos - the pain point for analysts to execute tasks that require data from multiple sources. As a result, having access to and analysing all of the data in one place becomes a top priority. This is where a database platform comes in handy.  

However, for any IT project, the decision to go with a database platform first call to look whether one needs, 

• Relational databases (SQL-based): They are sorted into a table and organised by each entry (the row) and its qualities (the columns). Similar to the way a phone book has different categories of information (name, number, address, etc.) for each line of data. 
• Non-Relational database (NoSQL): Consider how to manage vast amounts of unstructured data, such as text from emails and consumer surveys, data collected by a network of mobile apps, or unstructured social media data. The data is unstructured and can’t be fit into tables and columns, or have a predefined schema. 

It can be possible to build workarounds with a relational database but it requires massive development time and regular upkeep from developers. To address this problem, MongoDB, a document-oriented NoSQL database, was launched in 2009. It stores data in flexible JSON like documents wherein one can revise data structure over time making it best suited for companies to manage data with reduced complexities.

We got in a conversation with Suvig Sharma, Regional Vice President, APAC, MongoDB to understand how the company is allowing organisations to accelerate their speed of innovation and avoid the costs of a complex data infrastructure.  

Leading from the front 

Today, for most organisations across industries, their competitive differentiation is closely tied to the quality of applications they build, and how fast they innovate. And that is where MongoDB considers its modern application data platform to outperform its competitors. As their core database received a good response, they launched a new managed service named MongoDB Atlas, which is a global cloud database service that makes it faster and more scalable for organisations to build and run applications on.  

“With MongoDB Atlas, developers no longer have to worry about infrastructure and management of the database. We have continued to expand alongside MongoDB Atlas, and have a full Application Data Platform that includes solutions for mobile data, search data, real-time analytics and much more,” said Suvig. 

“Because of this, MongoDB is continuing to see massive adoption globally as well as in India. And the company is continuing to expand to help fuel that growth,” he added. 

On DIRT and its challenges 

With the acceleration of digital transformations with the help of technology in creating modern applications, companies unknowingly begin to form complex data infrastructure. As a result, the developers have to invest a lot of time and money in order to maintain and manage the spaghetti architecture, while those same resources could be used to develop new products and features that add value.  

This needlessly complex data architecture, according to Suvig, becomes a tax on innovation — the Data and Innovation Recurring Tax, which we refer to as DIRT. It poses two significant challenges: 

• This tax is particularly cumbersome, as companies in every industry build new, modern applications to transform their businesses. The impacts actually go beyond their budget and threaten the ability to quickly bring new products to the market.   
• The other added complexity is brought in by cloud-based components. This holds true both for the applications that consumers use to interact with organisations and for the systems that keep an IT infrastructure functioning.   

To overcome these challenges, Suvig mentioned: “MongoDB's application data platform offers an integrated suite of cloud database services that allow organisations to address a huge variety of use cases, from transactional to analytical, from search to data visualisations. And this is all built on the underlying document database, which is the most powerful and intuitive way for developers to work with data.” 

What about privacy 

At first, requirements for improved data privacy seemed to be driven by regulatory and compliance regimes rather than customer demand. But that, too, is changing as customers become more aware of the brisk trade in their personal data and the options for regaining control of that data.   

With MongoDB’s application data platform, tech teams can use one interface, for any application, and run it anywhere. “We are prioritising privacy of data through field-level encryption, wherein our client’s sensitive data is automatically encrypted by the MongoDB drivers before exiting the application ensuring maximum data security against potential exploits that target server memory.” 

What’s next 

MongoDB is helping developers to be able to build applications without having to think about database infrastructure or capacity management. The platform has a massive and engaged community of developers. “In fact, the database was downloaded nearly 100 million times in the last year alone. MongoDB works directly with developers in India, as well as through collaborations with system integrators and boutique independent software suppliers who create solutions based on the company's platform,” said Suvig.  

“We also offer MongoDB University, which helps developers build MongoDB skills and advance their career with courses and certification,” he further added.   

MongoDB works with clients like Zomato, Halaplay, Curefit and many others in India. “It’s not just startups but MongoDB is increasingly becoming a strategic technology partner and standard for customers, which supports our ability to generate attractive growth at scale for the foreseeable future,” concluded Suvig.