We recently conducted a Product development survey to gather feedback from our customers. We wanted to understand the needs and preferences of DBeaver users to help shape the evolution path of our products. Now we are ready to share the results with you.
The survey garnered responses from professionals across diverse roles – developers, database administrators (DBAs), analysts, data engineers, and others.
As you can see above, there are both technical and business professionals among DBeaver’s users.
8 out of 10 professionals work with data in our products every day.
Developers, DBAs, and data engineers frequently cited SQL development, database administration, and data analysis as their primary use cases. Analysts and management personnel heavily utilized DBeaver for data analysis and visualization purposes, aligning with their roles in leveraging data insights.
As you can notice, workflow differs among specialists in different areas, but not critically. For example, three roles including managers, data engineers and architects, call the ability to work with cloud databases very important. Three other roles also have a high demand for data management functions, i.e. migration, transfer, import and export.
By analyzing the data collected, we aim to prioritize the features and requested improvements that resonate with users most.The survey solicited participant ratings on the importance of various proposed features and capabilities. It is structured to cover several critical areas:
– functionality;
– deployment & integration;
– usability & accessibility;
– migration & management;
– and futureproofing.
As the basic mechanics of the survey, this significance was measured on a scale from 1 (Not Important) to 5 (Very Important). However, in the third block, we also asked specialists to tell us what features they would like to see in the future and which database vendors are most relevant to them.
Feature Highlights
SQL editing emerged as a crucial functionality, consistently valued across all user roles. With this resounding feedback, DBeaver remains committed to continually enhancing its SQL Editor capabilities. For example, in the last year alone, AI Assistant, AI Chat, and other additional panels have become parts of our tool. We also added Outline and validation panels based on customer requests.
The survey highlighted a substantial demand for supporting emerging technologies like graph databases, and cloud database technologies. Meeting these needs gives new and existing users an advanced data experience.
Deployment & Integration
As the industry trends towards cloud adoption and hybrid infrastructure, the survey results underscored user interest in these topics.
Respondents expressed a strong preference for cloud integration and cloud database support in DBeaver. Improvement in these aspects can facilitate seamless integration with cloud environments for better user experience.
To address enterprise and team needs, DBeaver recommends exploring Team Edition with the ability to simplify cloud connection creation through the Cloud Explorer feature, specifically designed for server-based deployment. The creation of collaborative data workflows can also improve the usability of database management in companies.
Graphical user interface feedback
As the survey shows, UI/UX issues are very important to DBeaver users. To address this, we improve our tools from release to release. Every time when we talk to users at events, we advise everyone to upgrade to current versions of DBeaver, as many of them are using older versions. As a part of UI development, in the past year alone, we have added many customization options for DBeaver desktop tools.
Also not all our users are familiar with web products whose interface is simpler for the newcomers and originally designed for business professionals. As more and more users are moving to web-based tools, we also, as in desktop products, focus on providing a user-friendly interface with a simplified UI.
The next release, 24.1 is not an exception for the UI improvements. This time we have improved UX for the Data Compare feature: simplified view of the main wizard, speed up the comparison performance and add html format to the export menu in the Data Compare feature.
User Feedback and Contributions
We express sincere gratitude to all users who took the time to share their invaluable ideas and comments through the survey. Their insights and suggestions play a pivotal role in shaping the future direction of DBeaver’s development. We encourage users to give us feedback anytime, whether through GitHub tickets, technical support channels, or other available ways. This ongoing dialogue fosters a collaborative environment where user input drives innovation and product improvement. It also gives us insight into the changing needs and expectations of our community.
Stay tuned for exciting updates as DBeaver embarks on this user-driven journey, ensuring that our products remain at the forefront of meeting the ever-changing demands of the database management and development landscape.
