State of Data Environment and Job Roles 2022 White Paper 30430

THE STATE OF THE
DATA ENVIRONMENT
AND JOB ROLES, 2022
By Joseph McKendrick, Research Analyst

Produced by Unisphere Research,
a Division of Information Today, Inc.
May 2022
Produced by
2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ��3
CHANGING ROLES ��4
THE GREAT RESIGNATION HITS HOME ��8
THE RISE OF OPS CULTURE HAS ONLY BEGUN ��9
THE SLOW BUT STEADY RISE OF AUTOMATION ��13
THE SPECTRUM STRATEGY, BETWEEN CLOUD AND ON-PREMISIS ��15
BUDGET AND STAFFING CONCERNS ��20
CONCLUSION ��25
DEMOGRAPHICS ��25
THE STATE OF THE DATA ENVIRONMENT AND JOB ROLES, 2022 REPORT was produced by Unisphere Research in Partnership with Quest. Unisphere Research is the market
research unit of Unisphere Media, a division of Information Today, Inc., publishers of Database Trends and Applications magazine and the 5 Minute Briefing newsletters. To review abstracts
of our past reports, visit www.unisphereresearch.com. Unisphere Media, 121 Chanlon Road, New Providence, NJ 07974; 908-795-3702.
3
INTRODUCTION
With the rapid shift toward data-driven organizations, data l The “Great Resignation” hits home: Data management
professionals–administrators, engineers, analysts–are seeing their professionals have not been immune from the Great
roles evolve. With greater automation and more robust cloud Resignation. A majority report unusually high levels of
services, today’s data professionals are seeing their roles elevated, attrition within their ranks.
working more closely with their businesses to deliver data-driven
capabilities. l The rise of ops culture has only begun: While a majority of
These are among the takeaways of a survey of 213 data enterprises have yet to fully adopt DevOps or other “Ops”
professionals, which looked at how these roles are changing, and approaches, interest is high, and benefits are seen among
how deeply they are embracing new modes of collaboration and those implementing these methodologies.
technology. The survey was fielded among members of Quest,
and conducted by Unisphere Research, a division of Information l The slow but steady rise of automation: Only about half of
Today, Inc., in partnership with Quest. enterprises have made progress with database automation.
Survey respondents represent a broad array of roles Backup and recovery is the task most likely to have been
associated with enterprise data management, led by IT directors/ automated.
managers, database administrators, IT operations managers,
and architects/engineers. Industries represented in the survey l The spectrum strategy, between cloud and on-premises:
include technology, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, The lines between on-premises and cloud environments are
and telecommunications. More than one third, 35%, of survey blurring. While a substantial portion of data is now in the
respondents were from companies with 5,000 or more employees. cloud, enterprises are both likely to be maintaining data sets
in the cloud alongside their on-premises environments.
Highlights:
l Budget and staffing concerns: While there have been
l Changing roles: Data management roles are shifting away concerns about having to do more with less, budgets and
from rote tasks and toward high-level tasks. There is also a staffing growth at database sites has been robust. A majority
more intense emphasis on security. report increased spending over the past year, and only three
percent have seen budget cuts, and only seven percent have
reduced staff.
4
CHANGING ROLES
Database management roles are shifting away from rote tasks and toward high-level tasks. There is also a more intense emphasis
on security.
Business leaders are looking to database managers or

professionals to guide the evolution to data-driven enterprises. l Significantly, 56% of data managers and professionals report
As enterprise shift their database operations to cloud providers, spending more time consulting with the business.
as well as automate low-level tasks, data professionals are seeing
their roles elevate to either work more closely with the business, l Areas seeing reduced emphasis in data professionals’ jobs
or focus on next-generation analytics. involve the provisioning of hardware or software, and
assuring uptime and performance.
l Data security–more essential to data-driven enterprises–has
seen more of a shift, with 67% spending more of their time Similarly, the demand for skills mirror the needs for greater
here than anywhere else. (Reporting 4 or 5 on a scale of 1 to security, more analytics capability, and assurance of data quality.
5 in terms of time spent.) (See Figure 1). A majority report a need for these skills (See Figure 2).
Data managers and professionals are assuming more
l A data-driven organization is built on analytics, from respobsilities for data sets than ever before. Close to three in four,
business intelligence to artificial intelligence. Accordingly, 74%, indicate the number of databases they manage has increased
60% report spending more time in this area. Another 60% over the past three years. For 42%, the expansion of their
are focusing on data quality, the bedrock of data-driven responsibilities has been significant, with the number of databases
organizations. under their purview increasing by 10% or more (See Figure 3).
l Cloud is front and center for many organizations, and

57% report they have shifted their responsibilities in this
direction.
5
Figure 1: Please rate how the scope of your job has

evolved over the past 3 years.
I SPEND MORE TIME ON

Data security 67%
Data analytics 60%
Maintaining data quality/consistency 60%

Identifying/approving
57%
cloud-based resources
Consulting with line of business teams 56%
0 20 40 60 80 100
I SPEND LESS TIME ON

Provisioning hardware/software 33%
Assuring uptime/performance 22%

19%
0 20 40 60 80 100
6
Figure 2: What data management skills are most needed at your

organization at this time?
Data security 66%
Data analytics 61%
Maintaining data
60%
quality/consistency
Ensuring uptime/performance 50%
39%
Consulting with line of

34%
business teams
Provisioning hardware/
32%
software
Presentations to management 22%
Other 3%
0 20 40 60 80 100
7
Figure 3: How has the number of databases managed by each team

member changed over the past 3 years?
Increased more than 20% 16%
Increased 10%–19% 26%
Increased 5–9% 20%
Increased up to 5% 12%
Has not changed 16%
Decreased 3%
Don't know/unsure 7%
0 20 40 60 80 100
8
THE GREAT RESIGNATION HITS HOME

Data management professionals have not been immune from the “Great Resignation.” A majority report unusually high levels
of attrition within their ranks.
Turnover has been acute among data staffs at enterprises over the past year. A majority, 51%, report turnover among data
management teams (includes DBAs, data engineers, data architects) has been “above the usual average.” More than one in five, 21%,
report turnover has been “troublesome” or “high” (See Figure 4).
Figure 4: What has been the rate of turnover among your data management
teams (includes DBAs, data engineers, data architects) over the past year?
High, more than half of

5%
staff has left
Troublesome, many staff
16%
members have left
Above the usual average 30%
About average or
24%
relatively unchanged
Below average, more staff

19%
members sticking around
Don’t know/not sure 6%
0 20 40 60 80 100
9
THE RISE OF OPS CULTURE HAS ONLY BEGUN

While a majority of enterprises have yet to fully adopt DevOps or other “Ops” approaches, interest is high, and benefits are seen
among those implementing these methodologies.
Will DevOps and other methodologies such as DataOps or l Most enterprises are just starting to explore the efficacy
MLOps help relieve critical skills requirements with greater of additional methodologies intended to improve the
collaboration and automation? A majority of enterprises do not delivery of data and software to their enterprises. Other
yet have these processes in place, though interest is running high. “Ops”–DataOps, MLOps, and AIOps–also focus on more
efficient delivery of data to their destinations, via automated
l While DevOps is a popular methodology intended to approaches and greater collaboration. Just over one in four
increase collaboration between teams and automation of enterprises have engaged other forms of Ops methodologies
software delivery, it still is on the drawing boards of many to enhance data-driven functions (See Figure 7).
enterprises. About 42% of respondents currently actively
engage DevOps, while 37% say this approach is still under l A majority working with these methodologies report faster
consideration (See Figure 5). delivery or time to market, along with greater operations
productivity. Fewer errors/software issues was also seen as a
l There are tangible benefits being seen as a result of DevOps tangible benefit by a majority of respondents (See Figure 8).
efforts. These include greater operations productivity.
Followed by faster delivery time to market (See Figure 6).
Figure 5: Does your team actively engage DevOps methodologies to

deliver software and solutions more efficiently?
No 14%
Yes 42%
Under
consideration 37% *Chart does not add up to
100% due to rounding
10
Figure 6: What benefits are you seeing as a result of your DevOps initiative(s)?
Greater operations productivity 63%
Faster delivery/time to market 60%
Fewer errors/software issues 54%
Greater developer productivity 40%
Greater transparency 35%
Higher staff job satisfaction 28%
Reduced costs/resource usage 27%
No benefits seen at this time 2%
Other 2%
0 20 40 60 80 100
11
Figure 7: Does your team actively engage within DataOps, AIOps, or MLOps
methodologies to deliver software and solutions more efficiently?
Yes 27%
No 22%
Under consideration 43%
12
Figure 8: What benefits are you seeing as a result of your DataOps,

AIOps, or MLOps initiative(s)?
Faster delivery/time to market 63%
Greater operations productivity 56%
Fewer errors/software issues 52%
Greater transparency 48%
Greater developer productivity 37%
Higher staff job satisfaction 31%
Reduced costs/resource usage 13%
No benefits seen at this time 2%
0 20 40 60 80 100
13
THE SLOW BUT STEADY RISE OF AUTOMATION

Only about half of enterprises have made progress with database automation. Backup and recovery is the task most likely to
have been automated.
There’s a noticeable divide between enterprises when it comes When asked a different way, drilling down on specific areas
to degrees of data automation. Notably, 43% report “many areas” seeing automation, basic functions normally subject to manual
of their data operations are automated, or things are almost tasks are seeing the highest levels, led by backup and recovery,
entirely automated. However, 54% indicate they have limited or along with data archiving and access control (See Figure 10).
no automation at all across their data functions (See Figure 9).
Figure 9: How much of your data environment is automated?
Little to no automation 9%
Almost entirely
automated 5%
Limited or
specific areas
automated
46%
Many areas
automated 38%
14
Figure 10: What data management functions are currently FULLY automated?
Backup/recovery 63%
Archiving 49%
Authentication/access control 46%
Authenticating data 44%
Monitoring performance 42%
Data Extraction, Transformation,

39%
and Loading
Extracting and/or loading data 32%
Cybersecurity 28%
Updating hardware/software 26%
Provisioning 24%
Configuration 22%
0 20 40 60 80 100
15
THE SPECTRUM STRATEGY, BETWEEN CLOUD AND ON-PREMISIS

The lines between on-premises and cloud environments are blurring. While a substantial portion of data is now in the cloud,
enterprises are both likely to be maintaining data sets in the cloud alongside their on-premises environments.
Databases are being run across a wide spectrum of platforms, Half of the survey respondents indicate they have rehosted
from on-premises environments to cloud-native environments at least some of their databases in cloud infrastructures (See
(See Figure 11). There also has been notable data movement to Figure 13).
the cloud as well. Forty-three percent indicate a substantial portion of their
In terms of cloud vendors supporting databases, Amazon production data is now cloud-based. A similar percentage reports
Web Services leads in adoption at this time, employed by 58% having non-production data (used for data warehouses/lakes,
of respondents. Microsoft Azure comes in a close second, used archival, development, backups) on cloud platforms (See Figures
by 56%. (Multiple responses were permitted.) Google Cloud 14 and 15).
Platform is a distant third at 24% (See Figure 12).
Figure 11: Where databases are run.
On-premises-only databases 72%
Host databases in hosted

62%
cloud environments
Cloud-native databases 62%
On-premises actively linked to cloud 60%
0 20 40 60 80 100
16
Figure 12: What cloud services are you using to manage your data environments?
Amazon Web Services 58%
Microsoft Azure 56%
Google Cloud Platform 24%
Salesforce 21%
Oracle Cloud 20%
VMWare 20%
IBM 15%
SAP 10%
Other 7%
0 20 40 60 80 100
17
Figure 13: Please rate how your use of the following cloud-based resources has
changed over the past three years: (4/5 – More)
Databases moved to the cloud 50%
SaaS 43%
APIs 41%
Databases offered by cloud

38%
providers (e.g., Amazon DB)
PaaS 32%
IaaS 26%
Data as a Service 33%
0 20 40 60 80 100
18
Figure 14: How much of your production data now resides in the cloud?
None 7%
1%–10% 17%
11%–25% 23%
26%–50% 24%
More than 50% 19%
Don’t know/unsure 10%
0 20 40 60 80 100
19
Figure 15: How much of your non-production data now resides in the cloud?
(e.g., data warehouse/lake, archival, development, backup)
None 10%
1%–10% 14%
11%–25% 24%
26%–50% 25%
More than 50% 19%
0 20 40 60 80 100
20
BUDGET AND STAFFING CONCERNS

While there have been concerns about having to do more with less, budgets and staffing growth at database sites has been
robust. A majority report increased spending over the past year, and only three percent have seen budget cuts, and only seven
percent have reduced staff.
A majority, 62%, report at least some increase in their database management budgets over the past year. This will remain steady
over the coming year as well. (See Figure 16 and 17)
Along with budgets, 57% of respondents report their staff sizes have increased over the past three years–they’re adding more DBAs,
data engineers, data architects to meet the needs of their increasingly digital enterprises (See Figure 18).
Typical data sizes are shown in Figures 19 and 20.
Figure 16: How has your database management budget

changed over the past 3 years?
Has not changed 21%
Decreased 3%
0 20 40 60 80 100
21
Figure 17: How will your database management budget

change over the coming year?
Will not change 20%
Decreased 1%
0 20 40 60 80 100
22
Figure 18: How has the size of your database management teams (includes
DBAs, data engineers, data architects) changed over the past 3 years?
Has not changed 28%
Decreased 7%
0 20 40 60 80 100
23
Figure 19: How large is your largest production database?
Less than 1TB 10%
1TB to 5TB 25%
5TB to 25TB 23%
25TB to 50TB 12%
Greater than 50TB 17%
0 20 40 60 80 100
24
Figure 20: How large is your largest non-production database?

(Data warehouse/lake, archival, development, backup)
Less than 1TB 14%
1TB to 5TB 27%
5TB to 25TB 22%
25TB to 50TB 12%
Greater than 50TB 9%
0 20 40 60 80 100
25
CONCLUSION
The world is changing, and database roles are changing with roles toward business engagement. At the same time, data-centric
it. As this survey shows, data professionals–administrators, operations have not been immune from “the Great Resignation”
engineers, analysts–are seeing their roles elevated, working more that cuts across all occupations–many professionals have been
closely with their businesses than ever to deliver data-driven re-assessing their career paths, and have been actively seeking
capabilities. The rise of the “Ops” culture, still in its early stages, new opportunities. A whole new world is opening to data
which encourages automation and collaboration for application professionals and managers.
delivery and data flows–will accelerate the evolution of database
DEMOGRAPHICS
Figure 21: How many employees are in your entire organization?

(Include all locations, branches, and subsidiaries)
1–100 employees 26%
101–500 employees 18%
501–1,000 employees 10%
1,001–5,000 employees 11%
5,001–10,000 employees 6%
More than 10,000 employees 29%
NA 1%
0 20 40 60 80 100
26
Figure 22: What is your primary job title?
Director/Manager of IS/IT or 17%

computer-related function
Chief/VP (CIO, CSO, CTO, IT, IS, etc) 13%
Database Administrator (DBA) 10%
IT Operations Manager 10%
Architect/Engineer (security, systems, data, etc.) 10%
IT Consultant 10%
Programmer/Developer 7%
Systems Administrator 4%
Project Manager 3%
Analyst/Systems Analyst 3%
Executive management level for the business 3%
Security Manager 2%
Manager of a business unit (non-computer function) 2%
Other 5%
0 20 40 60 80 100
27
Figure 23: What is your primary industry?
IT Services/Consulting/ 19%
System Integration
Financial Services 12%
Healthcare/medical/life science 11%
Software/application development 8%
Education (all levels) 7%
Utility/Telecommunications/ 7%
Transportation
Business/consumer services 6%
Government (all levels) 5%
Insurance 5%
Manufacturing 5%
Non-Profit 3%
Retail/Distribution 3%
Energy (oil, gas, etc) 1%
High-Tech manufacturing 2%
Other 5%
0 20 40 60 80 100

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THE STATE OF THE

By Joseph McKendrick, Research Analyst

THE RISE OF OPS CULTURE HAS ONLY BEGUN ����������������������������������������������������������������������������9

THE SLOW BUT STEADY RISE OF AUTOMATION ������������������������������������������������������������������������13

THE SPECTRUM STRATEGY, BETWEEN CLOUD AND ON-PREMISIS ������������������������������������������15

Business leaders are looking to database managers or

l Cloud is front and center for many organizations, and

Figure 1: Please rate how the scope of your job has

I SPEND MORE TIME ON

Data analytics 60%

Maintaining data quality/consistency 60%

I SPEND LESS TIME ON

Assuring uptime/performance 22%

Figure 2: What data management skills are most needed at your

Data security 66%

Data analytics 61%

Ensuring uptime/performance 50%

Consulting with line of

Presentations to management 22%

Figure 3: How has the number of databases managed by each team

Increased more than 20% 16%

Increased 10%–19% 26%

Increased 5–9% 20%

Has not changed 16%

THE GREAT RESIGNATION HITS HOME

High, more than half of

Above the usual average 30%

Below average, more staff

Don’t know/not sure 6%

THE RISE OF OPS CULTURE HAS ONLY BEGUN

Figure 5: Does your team actively engage DevOps methodologies to

Greater operations productivity 63%

Faster delivery/time to market 60%

Fewer errors/software issues 54%

Greater developer productivity 40%

Greater transparency 35%

Higher staff job satisfaction 28%

Reduced costs/resource usage 27%

No benefits seen at this time 2%

Under consideration 43%

Figure 8: What benefits are you seeing as a result of your DataOps,

Faster delivery/time to market 63%

Greater operations productivity 56%

Fewer errors/software issues 52%

Greater transparency 48%

Greater developer productivity 37%

Higher staff job satisfaction 31%

Reduced costs/resource usage 13%

No benefits seen at this time 2%

THE SLOW BUT STEADY RISE OF AUTOMATION

Figure 9: How much of your data environment is automated?

Authentication/access control 46%

Authenticating data 44%

Monitoring performance 42%

Data Extraction, Transformation,

Extracting and/or loading data 32%

Updating hardware/software 26%

THE SPECTRUM STRATEGY, BETWEEN CLOUD AND ON-PREMISIS

Figure 11: Where databases are run.

On-premises-only databases 72%

Host databases in hosted

Cloud-native databases 62%

On-premises actively linked to cloud 60%

THE RISE OF OPS CULTURE HAS ONLY BEGUN ��9

THE SLOW BUT STEADY RISE OF AUTOMATION ��13

THE SPECTRUM STRATEGY, BETWEEN CLOUD AND ON-PREMISIS ��15

l Cloud is front and center for many organizations, and