Why your business isn’t making the most of MongoDB

MongoDB’s flexible schema, scalability, and ability to handle large volumes of data make it a popular tool for businesses across industries as varied as finance, healthcare, software, retail and telecommunications. 

However, many businesses aren’t making the best of it. To maximize its value and achieve their goals, your team needs to understand how to use it efficiently. But with Forbes research finding almost 1 in 3 business leaders distrusts their own data, there seems to be room for improvement. 

But first, let’s take a look at why MongoDB is a popular choice for modern applications. 

Why do businesses use MongoDB?

In order to succeed, organizations need to successfully deal with an ever growing amount of data. Oracle research found 86% of businesses say the volume of information makes data-driven decision making much more complicated.

For many, that’s where MongoDB comes in, as it solves many common data management and software development issues. 

As a document database, MongoDB is designed to handle the demands of modern, agile software development. Unlike traditional SQL databases, this No SQL database uses BSON (a binary format similar to JSON), which allows users to store both structured and unstructured data. 

This offers organizations flexibility and scalability. MongoDB’s flexible schema is good news for developer productivity, as it allows for rapid development and adaptation to changing data structures, while horizontal scaling makes it easy to manage growing data volumes and user loads.

Another benefit is fast insights from real-time analytics, thanks to its powerful aggregation pipeline. 

MongoDB supports a range of use cases, including real-time analytics, customer data management, application building and application management at scale.

MongoDB challenges your business needs to overcome

MongoDB’s flexibility is often a strength, but it can also be a challenge. If you’re wondering how to improve your organization’s MongoDB performance to take advantage of benefits such as enhanced productivity and easier access to insights then it’s important to be aware of some of the most common issues. 

Skills gaps

Moving to a NoSQL database from a traditional relational database can prove challenging without the right preparation and ensuring your team has the right training, or have the tools that would help them speed up the learning curve. Developers and database administrators may need to build new skills, so it’s worth thinking about how to support them. 

Infrastructure limitations 

MongoDB is capable of handling vast amounts of data, making it a popular choice for growing businesses. But it’s essential to set up systems to support it, sharding and other infrastructure complexities in MongoDB, such as poor resource allocation or schema design, can hinder scalability and performance without proper planning and expertise.

The good news? These issues can be overcome as they are most often due to poor planning for MongoDB’s specific requirements and outdated technology. 

Not knowing what’s possible

MongoDB is well known for its ability to store data and simplify data retrieval, but its potential doesn’t stop there. Don’t overlook features like real-time analytics, advanced search, and integrations with AI or machine learning or you risk missing the chance to create new value. 

Resistance to change and need for stakeholder buy-in

Change can be scary. Teams with more experience with relational databases may be reluctant to switch, which can cause delays or even stop MongoDB adoption completely. And then there’s the need to persuade stakeholders about the costs of migrating, the need to retrain staff and the impact on the bottom line. Thankfully, automation and reporting features offer measurable results that allow you to track your return on investment. 

Teams working in silos 

When used correctly, developers, analysts, and business leaders will all be singing the praises of MongoDB. But if these groups struggle to collaborate, then problems can occur. Developers might focus on technical tasks while analysts and business teams struggle to get the insights they need. 

Lack of tools

Without the right tools teams can struggle with important tasks like migrating data, writing queries and visualizing data. These tasks can be time consuming and error prone, which makes it difficult for businesses to reap the full benefits of MongoDB. 

Secrets to MongoDB success

Fear not, the above challenges can be overcome. We’ve pulled together a selection of actions and tools to address some of the most common MongoDB challenges.

Efficient query building 

Query builders give you a better understanding of your data by allowing users to run queries in a more user-friendly way. This opens up access across teams, reducing dependency on database experts by minimizing the need for manual coding. Studio 3T’s Visual Query Builder makes things even easier, by allowing you to drag and drop fields. 

We might be a little biased, but we think visualizing data is essential to make the most of MongoDB. There are also export options allowing you to share data in accessible formats, which is a great way to improve collaboration between teams. 

Challenges this can help with: Skills gaps, lack of tools

Aggregation editor

An aggregation editor allows development teams to work more efficiently. The order of the stages in the aggregation pipeline can reduce resource consumption, with data inputs/outputs shown side-by-side for every stage. 

The right combination of querying and aggregation tools can reduce a task that might have taken hours to just 10 minutes. Indeed, Studio 3T customers tell us that our Aggregation Editor and Visual Query Builder allow them to greatly increase productivity. 

Challenges this can help with: Infrastructure limitations, lack of tools

AI-enhanced query building

Using AI for query generation can simplify data retrieval by allowing users to use natural language search, enhancing both speed and accuracy, and opening up the ability to search to all. 

This makes it easy for non-technical stakeholders to understand and engage with MongoDB, while automation and reporting features offer measurable results that show ROI. This could prove to be a game-changer for data insights. 

Challenges this can help with: Not knowing what’s possible, resistance to changes and need for stakeholder buy-in, skills gaps 

Task automation

Automating routine or repetitive database tasks allows IT teams to focus on higher-value activities, while also reducing human error and manual labor costs. Studio 3T customers have found the time saved by team members thanks to features such as this ensures the investment is paid off within the first month. 

Challenges this can help with: Resistance to change, teams working in silos, lack of tools

Schema exploration tools

These give you insights into MongoDB schemas, which helps teams quickly identify and resolve modeling issues and data quality. They can also detect anomalies, such as missing or unexpected fields, which is good news for data quality.

Challenges this can help with: Infrastructure limitations, teams working in silos

Effective index management

Strategic indexing practices can improve query efficiency and overall database performance, which leads to lower operational costs. 

Challenges this can help with: Lack of tools, infrastructure limitations

SQL integration

Using MongoDB with an SQL integration feature allows users to run SQL queries directly on MongoDB data. This facilitates an easier transition for teams more used to relational databases. 

Challenges this can help with: Skills gaps, resistance to change, stakeholder buy-in

Realizing MongoDB’s business benefits

When used effectively, MongoDB offers some substantial business benefits. A well-optimized MongoDB deployment, along with the right skills and tools, can save you money, streamline operations and open up new insights. 

Don’t just take our word for it, our customer Kanso Software has achieved 90% increased dev efficiency thanks to Studio 3T. That’s equivalent to a time saving of three hours per day, per developer. 

There are financial benefits too, as it reported savings of $2,000 per month, per developer – that’s a $36,000 annual saving.

With the right set up and use cases, organizations can move beyond basic use and realize transformative business outcomes. Doing this will give your business a major advantage in today’s competitive landscape.