Why Database Discussions Have Moved From the Backroom to the Boardroom

Redgate is a Business Reporter client.

There are good reasons why business leaders should care about their databases—and hidden costs for neglecting them.

For most business leaders, the database is something you don’t think much about until there’s an issue with it. It’s like running water, electricity or the coffee machine; you just expect it to work. But when it cuts out or malfunctions, the impact is felt across the business.  

That’s the real power of the database. If treated well, it can be a major accelerator of efficiency across your business. Your data, after all, is one of your most important assets. Across every sector—whether it’s financial services or health care, government or retail, manufacturing or media—databases provide access to products, services, sales and support, and the data they collect and process offers the insights that enterprises need to navigate today’s rapidly evolving business environment. 

An optimized database can be the star performer in your migration to the cloud or in your move to microservices, and in other change initiatives. However, if the right guardrails aren’t in place to manage, monitor and protect your database, it can become a significant business risk and result in unexpected costs.  

The cost of downtime 

Downtime is a significant risk because database performance issues can become very costly, very quickly. The average cost of enterprise downtime caused by the database has been calculated at $4.05 million per year.  

While that seems high, it’s easy to see how it adds up, with one survey revealing that 91% of large organizations calculate the cost of unplanned downtime as at least $300,000 per hour. 2021 research found that data centers experienced an average of 2.4 total facility shutdowns per year and 10 additional downtime events involving individual racks or servers. 

A database monitoring tool can help diagnose and resolve issues quickly, and reduce the possibility of downtime happening in the first place. It can also alert you to security problems that put your data at risk. 

The cost of data breaches 

The cost of downtime reflects the costs of remediating the technical issues and business problems that caused the downtime. If robust database practices and tools are not in place, the risk of a data breach is increased. 

Eighty-three percent of organizations have had more than one data breach. A single data breach costs an average of $5.05 million in the U.K., while in the US, it rises to $9.44 million. That’s just the initial financial hit, and the cost to the brand and bottom line will likely be far higher.  

It’s almost certain that you’re storing sensitive data in your database. As such, one of the key responsibilities for enterprises is to maintain database compliance and security in line with government regulations. These rules are changing all the time, thanks largely to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which came into force across the EU in 2018. 

Since then, tighter legislation has been enacted across the globe. Notably, the lack of federal legislation in the US has prompted nine states to put comprehensive data privacy laws in place. Without proper investment in tools and processes, it’s easy for databases to be exposed to attacks. 

The cost of human error and lost productivity 

When looking into the risk of data breaches, a primary factor emerges. One report found that, for the second consecutive year, “human error” was the number-one concern, ahead of “hacktivists” and “nation-state actors.” 

This shouldn’t come as a surprise because manual database and software deployments involve laborious and error-prone steps that are costly and time-consuming, and increase the chance of failed deployments, downtime and heightened risk. 

Automating these processes with the wide range of proven tools now available minimizes errors and makes deployments reliable, repeatable and robust, and gets software in front of customers much faster. 

Automation also resolves another hidden cost: disengaged employees and a subsequent fall in productivity. This is a major concern: While 23% of employees are engaged and thriving, 59% don’t feel engaged and are “quiet quitting,” and 18% are actively disengaged and “loud quitting.”

That’s a very big—and largely unseen—hit to the bottom line. When asked what employees would change to make the workplace better, engagement and well-being are far ahead of pay and benefits; it’s about doing less repetitive work and gaining more autonomy to stimulate creativity.

Introducing automation and streamlining processes frees IT teams from the boring work that causes them to be disengaged. This enables them to do more fulfilling work that benefits them—and the business they work for. 

The cost of regulatory fines 

Finally, we come to what is becoming the biggest cost of all: the fines levied as a result of increasingly stringent data privacy legislation being enacted around the world. 

As of August 2023, the total fines imposed under the GDPR top €4 billion. In August 2022, the first fine levied under the California Consumer Protection Act, $1.2 million, was imposed. Data protection has now become a business issue everywhere. 

Sitting at the heart of all these costs—whether it’s downtime, breaches, human error or data protection compliance—is the database. Properly managed and monitored, databases can be an invaluable business asset. But, as we’ve seen, the cost of neglect can escalate rapidly. It’s no surprise that in many enterprises, the database discussion has now moved from the backroom to the boardroom.

Redgate has specialized in providing database solutions for over 20 years. Your organization can achieve speed, reliability and greater efficiencies, all while minimizing downtime and maintaining compliance.  

Find out more at Redgate.com/Enterprise.

This article originally appeared in Business Reporter.

Main image: iStock id1296049631

Author image: Courtesy of Redgate