Jamie Wallis

14 March 2019

Have your say on the state of SQL Server monitoring

In 2018 we ran the industry’s first ever state of SQL Server monitoring survey. We received an excellent response from over 600 people in a range of sectors, in organizations of every size across the globe. They provided valuable insights into what they thought the biggest challenges were for them and their estates over the next 12 months.

The results of the survey not only benefited the community but also helped us better understand how we could shape our own product development to deliver more value where organizations needed it.

So what did we find out last year? Below are a handful of key insights from the report.

Key insights from the 2018 results

• Only 48% of respondents were using cloud technologies – principally SQL Server on VMs or Azure SQL DB
• Cloud was expected to grow in importance and migrating to the cloud was predicted to be one of the biggest challenges in the following 12 months
• Companies were generally slow to update to new platforms, principally due to applications that rely on older versions, prohibitive costs, and an “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” attitude
• Most respondents were still firefighting rather than proactively monitoring
• People using any sort of monitoring tool, including tools built in-house, were generally satisfied with their solution
• 47% of respondents expected their SQL Server estate to grow in the next 12 months, with only 12% expecting it to become smaller
• Most respondents spend an hour a day looking at server health and a further hour resolving issues

And finally…

• Security and protection was the biggest server management challenge these teams expected to face in the coming year

What will be the state of SQL Server monitoring in 2019?

One year on, we want to know how these findings have changed. We’re now approaching the first anniversary of the GDPR so, after having some time adjusting to the new compliance regulations, is security and protection still the biggest challenge in server management? Are migrations to the cloud increasing? Are server estates continuing to grow?

We’ve decided to run the survey again in order to tell us how things have shifted, and we need you to tell us what the state of SQL Server Monitoring looks like for 2019.

Take the new survey and give us your insights into how you’re currently tacking SQL Server monitoring. Complete the survey and you’ll receive an exclusive advance preview of the 2019 Report – and your name will be entered into a draw with a chance to win a $250 Amazon voucher.

The survey will run until midnight GMT on April 5th 2019.