In the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, enterprises are increasingly shifting from proprietary databases to open-source alternatives, with PostgreSQL emerging as a preferred choice. This trend is largely driven by the high costs associated with licensing and the constraints imposed by vendor dependencies.
Transforming Database Strategies
As organizations accelerate their digital transformation efforts, IT leaders are reassessing their database strategies to align with evolving performance, cost, and scalability demands. According to Kevin Dallas, CEO of EnterpriseDB, “Three key trends are shaping database decisions globally. There is a movement toward open-source databases, particularly PostgreSQL, which has emerged as the de facto choice for enterprises aiming to modernize their data infrastructure.”
Dallas emphasizes that enterprises are developing applications that require transactional, analytical, and generative AI workloads, necessitating the adoption of databases capable of supporting all three functions. Concurrently, organizations are gravitating towards hybrid IT models, balancing on-premises and cloud workloads to comply with sovereign data regulations and AI governance requirements.
These trends are particularly pronounced in APAC, where businesses face increasing transaction volumes and stringent compliance needs. Stuart Fisher, EDB’s regional vice president and general manager for APJ, notes that countries like Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines are experiencing robust adoption of PostgreSQL due to these factors. “Japan and Korea maintain a strong on-premises demand, while India is leading the charge away from legacy database lock-in, driven by cost and ROI pressures,” he adds.
PostgreSQL’s Role in Hybrid IT
As hybrid IT becomes the prevailing enterprise model, PostgreSQL must evolve to accommodate emerging workloads, including AI and analytics. Dallas highlights that EDB has enhanced PostgreSQL’s capabilities to meet these changing demands. One significant advancement is the adoption of a lakehouse architecture, enabling PostgreSQL to manage both structured and unstructured data.
This architecture facilitates large-scale analytics on petabytes of data, positioning PostgreSQL as a viable tool for AI-driven insights. Another enhancement is the introduction of pgvector, which allows for seamless translation between SQL-based queries and vectorized data, essential for applications involving AI-driven search, recommendation engines, and real-time decision-making. This integration enables enterprises to run AI applications directly within the database, eliminating the need for separate, specialized infrastructure.
Fisher points out that data sovereignty is becoming increasingly important across the APAC region, with regulations requiring that data be stored and processed within national borders. This creates challenges for cloud hyperscalers, as establishing local data centers in every country is not always feasible. “To address compliance challenges, enterprises are deploying PostgreSQL across hybrid cloud environments, balancing control with scalability,” he states.
Dallas further elaborates on the complexities of managing multi-vendor IT environments. To streamline security, governance, and compliance, EDB has developed a hybrid control plane, providing a unified management interface across on-premises and cloud deployments. This centralized system enhances visibility, security, and regulatory compliance, allowing enterprises to monitor and manage their entire database ecosystem from a single platform.
The Gradual Transition to PostgreSQL
Despite the advantages offered by PostgreSQL, many enterprises opt for a gradual transition. Legacy dependencies, staff expertise, and operational risks often make a phased approach more practical. Fisher recounts an instance where an insurance company in Hong Kong fully migrated from an Oracle proprietary database to PostgreSQL for all transactional workloads, resulting in reduced licensing costs, increased flexibility, and improved performance while maintaining the necessary security and compliance standards.
“However, full migrations are rare. Organizations typically begin with specific use cases, such as microservices or new digital services, before gradually transitioning legacy workloads,” Fisher explains. As data volumes continue to rise across various sectors, including retail, shipping, manufacturing, banking, and taxation, the need for real-time processing of high-volume transactions becomes critical. While traditional vendors have historically catered to these environments, PostgreSQL now meets scalability demands with its enterprise-grade enhancements.
Dallas emphasizes that successful migration hinges on two key aspects: database mobility and application portability. While relocating the database is a significant step, ensuring that applications operate efficiently on PostgreSQL is equally crucial. Looking ahead, Dallas mentions that EDB is integrating GPU support and developing tools to assist customers in accelerating the creation of AI-powered applications. Businesses today require the ability to create and deploy generative AI solutions at a much faster pace, transforming what once took months into mere days.
“To achieve this, we are investing in tools that will allow users to seamlessly integrate their proprietary data, select the appropriate language models, and deploy AI agents efficiently,” Dallas concludes, with expectations for these capabilities to roll out progressively, including NVIDIA GPU support and other enhancements anticipated by the second quarter of 2025.
