Monday.com launches more Ten years ago, we wanted to help companies build flexible business toolsets for CRM, marketing, operations, HR, and more that were built in a customized way that couldn't be found out-of-the-box. Not only did companies love the flexibility, they found that they were pushing the boundaries beyond the ability of the underlying database technology to continue handling all use cases.
So the company began looking for a successor. With a myriad of off-the-shelf database choices, you might think finding the right one is just a matter of time and testing, but it's worth considering some options and talking to some experts. After Monday came to the conclusion that we needed more than what was available on the market.
One of the main issues was flexibility. Monday.com had no idea how customers would incorporate building blocks into their applications. This meant we needed a schemaless database to handle whatever the customer decided to build. So we decided to build our own database, but there was a twist: we couldn't build a single database that would take over all future functionality. Instead, it overlays other databases to handle specific tasks. The new solution is called MondayDB.
The new database has been in place since July, and even though the company has migrated to the new database, the old database still exists as another layer in the complex Monday.com architecture.
Startups, no matter how careful they are with their technology choices, often struggle to bring their products to market, and are often unable to see how their products grow over time. You need to realize that there is no way to predict what will develop. At some point, though, companies will have to start with a completely new architecture and pay off their technical debt, as Monday.com had to do.
We spoke with Daniel Lereya, Chief Product and Technology Officer, to learn how his team decided to build this solution and the challenges they faced in finding a database technology that met these unique requirements. I learned about the challenges I faced.
Another manic Monday
The process leading to the construction of the database has been going on for several years. In fact, the company started considering the idea of a new database in his January 2021 with a completely open mindset. Lereya says customers value his Monday.com because of the flexibility it provides, and the company needed a solution that could manage an adaptable approach.