Grab Drives 50% Efficiencies with MongoDB Atlas

Grab is Southeast Asia’s leading ‘super application,’ offering a wide range of services, targeting both consumers and businesses, including deliveries, mobility, financial services, enterprise and more.

Their range of applications, such as the popular Grab Taxi, Grab Pay, Grab Mart, Grab Ads, and more, count approximately 38 million active users monthly across 500 cities and eight countries.

Managing a high volume of constantly growing users and handling regular spikes in demand and activity means that Grab needs to maintain a robust, scalable, and flexible digital infrastructure.

Presenting at MongoDB.local Singapore in 2024, Grab shared their journey of migrating one of their key service apps—GrabKios—from the Community Edition of MongoDB to MongoDB Atlas. Grab also described how they are expanding their use of MongoDB to support semantic search.

“Transitioning to MongoDB Atlas was not just a migration—it was a strategic move aimed at enhancing our database infrastructure,” said Jude Dulaj Lakshan De Croos, Database Engineering Manager at Grab.

A smooth transition to MongoDB Atlas

Grab’s journey with MongoDB Atlas began with the realization that their existing database infrastructure, while functional, was not equipped to handle the scale and complexity of their operations.

Grab’s eventual migration to MongoDB Atlas was meticulously planned and executed, including extensive testing to ensure a smooth transition.

During the critical testing phase, the creation of a replica “prod clone” environment, allowed Grab to test and refine their migration strategy. This minimized the possibility of unforeseen issues.

The migration also involved the use of Mongomirror. This facilitated the seamless transfer of data from Grab’s self-hosted clusters to MongoDB Atlas.

“We were able to ensure that migration was actually smooth and ran without any issues,” said Swarit Arora, Senior Database Engineer at Grab.

MongoDB Atlas’s developer data platform offers Grab high levels of flexibility and scalability, accommodating Grab’s fast growth (the company recorded a 23% revenue growth YoY in 2024) in an ever-changing digital landscape. MongoDB Atlas also delivers unique automation and streamlining capabilities, as well as enterprise-grade support which led to improved process and database management efficiency.

Efficiency gains with greater scalability, flexibility, performance

MongoDB Atlas provided Grab with an automated, scalable, and secure platform, which empowered its engineering teams to focus on product development rather than database maintenance.

“With MongoDB Atlas, we don’t have to worry about the scaling changes. And with hands-on security we can deliver secure and fast applications,” said Arora. “Being able to configure the exact resources required and then scale up and down based on our requirements is a plus. Considering we don't have to manage the scalability part, this is, I think, saving us around 50% of the time.”

Furthermore, MongoDB Atlas delivers proactive recommendations to Grab’s team. For example, MongoDB Atlas’s Performance Advisor saves the team time by delivering real-time insights and recommendations to optimize query performance, ultimately reducing manual management tasks and increasing database efficiency.

“It is now easy to set up our MongoDB clusters compared to what we were doing when we self-hosted, which was more time-consuming,” added Arora. “Secondly, if we are required to upgrade the cluster version, it is as easy as the click of a button.”

Dedicated analytics nodes mean that Grab’s team is able to enhance the analytical capabilities of any application running on MongoDB.

The successful migration to MongoDB Atlas has positioned Grab to explore new possibilities, including leveraging MongoDB’s advanced features for use cases such as semantic search and AI applications.

Learn more about MongoDB Atlas.

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MongoDB Atlas + PowerSync: The Future of Offline-First Enterprise Apps

Picture this: your field team is miles from the nearest cell tower, but their apps still work flawlessly—tracking assets, updating data, and syncing the moment they're back online. Since even a second of downtime can cost millions, the future of enterprise apps is one where "offline" doesn't mean "out of commission." Enter MongoDB Atlas and PowerSync, two organizations behind cutting-edge, always-on experiences. The recently announced MongoDB Atlas-PowerSync integration delivers seamless performance and real-time data syncing that keeps businesses running—even when internet connectivity is spotty. By pairing MongoDB Atlas (the gold standard for cloud databases) with PowerSync (a game-changing sync engine) enterprises can create fully offline-first applications that keep teams productive, no matter where they are. Across a variety of industries— from energy, to manufacturing, to field services, to retail—the new integration delivers smooth performance and reliable bi-directional data sync between backend and frontend systems. We are excited to bring support for MongoDB into PowerSync, and to offer MongoDB customers a proven enterprise-grade sync engine to drive their offline-first applications. Conrad Hofmeyr, CEO of JourneyApps/PowerSync MongoDB Atlas + PowerSync: A power move The partnership between MongoDB Atlas and PowerSync offers a new level of app performance, especially for those that need to operate seamlessly in both online and offline environments. PowerSync transforms your applications by enabling data synchronization between MongoDB on the backend and SQLite on the front end. This means your apps don’t just cache data while offline—they remain fully operational. Users can perform queries, update records, and sync millions of objects, all while disconnected. As soon as they reconnect, the data syncs effortlessly with MongoDB Atlas, ensuring that no data is lost in the process. This solution has been refined over a decade, delivering enterprise-grade reliability and scalability. With MongoDB Atlas as the backend, it brings the stability and compliance that enterprises demand. Both PowerSync and MongoDB Atlas are SOC 2 Type 2 audited, ensuring that your data remains secure and compliant with even the strictest regulatory standards. Whether you’re handling a small team or synchronizing millions of users, this combination scales effortlessly, making it a perfect fit for teams of any size. What’s more, integrating PowerSync into your system doesn’t require a major overhaul. Using MongoDB’s change streams, PowerSync delivers high-performance syncing without the need for configuring complex database triggers. The integration is seamless and designed to minimize disruption, making it a low-stress solution for developers looking for a high-efficiency sync tool. Finally, PowerSync gives developers complete control over how data is handled. Whether you want to sync immediately or start with a local-first architecture, PowerSync allows for full customization, letting you determine what data is synced and when business logic is applied. No matter your stack or environment, PowerSync is designed to adapt to your specific needs, providing the flexibility and control to create robust, scalable applications. PowerSync integration with MongoDB Atlas A flexible approach to CRUD operations In addition to the seamless integration of MongoDB Atlas and PowerSync by using sync rules and doing CRUD operations through self-hosted backend API’s, developers have the option to use serverless cloud functions for these database operations. The JourneyApps Platform simplifies this by allowing teams to build, deploy, and host custom APIs effortlessly. This creates a MongoDB Atlas persister that opens up a migration path for Atlas Device Sync customers that is fully cloud-hosted and doesn’t require additional infrastructure. PowerSync hosted CRUD operations into MongoDB using serverless cloud functions This way you can enjoy the flexibility of writing your own Backend API, or if you prefer a fully hosted solution in your PowerSync service. Both options are available, allowing teams to choose the approach that best fits their operational needs. Where this combo shines: Real-world use cases Energy & field services: Technicians deep in the field, in low connectivity conditions, but equipped with PowerSync apps. They continue collecting and syncing data, from equipment diagnostics to work orders. Once they reconnect, MongoDB Atlas captures everything in real-time, ensuring no critical data gets lost in the shuffle. Manufacturing: Whether it’s tracking production metrics or running diagnostics on machinery, PowerSync’s offline-first architecture keeps operations running. Workers can continue making updates and querying data locally, with MongoDB Atlas acting as the central hub for oversight and reporting when the network is back up. Utilities & Mining: From power grids to remote mining operations, where outages are common, PowerSync delivers secure, bi-directional syncing that ensures your teams have the most up-to-date information, no matter the conditions. Retail: Network connectivity issues should never prevent app users from completing core retail activities like accepting orders, tracking inventory or making deliveries. Point of sale (POS) apps are typically expected to keep working even when network connectivity is not available. Unlock your enterprise's potential today The ability to maintain operations without interruption is increasingly a necessity. By leveraging the powerful integration of MongoDB Atlas and PowerSync, your enterprise can ensure its applications are always ready to perform, regardless of connectivity challenges. Are you ready to transform your offline operations and unlock the full potential of your data? Visit PowerSync’s migration guide today to explore how to seamlessly transition to this innovative solution and empower your teams with the tools they need to thrive in any environment. Don’t let downtime hold you back—take the first step toward a more resilient, agile future!

October 14, 2024
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MongoDB’s 2024 Year in Review

It’s hard to believe that another year is almost over! 2024 was a transformative year for MongoDB, and it was marked by both innovation and releases that further our commitment to empowering customers, developers, and partners worldwide. So without further ado, let’s dive into MongoDB’s 2024 highlights. We’ll also share our executive team’s predictions of what 2025 might have in store. A look back at 2024 MongoDB 8.0: The most performant version of MongoDB ever In October we released MongoDB 8.0 , the fastest, most resilient, secure, and reliable version of MongoDB yet. Architectural optimizations in MongoDB 8.0 have significantly improved the database’s performance, with 36% faster reads and 59% higher throughput for updates. Our new architecture also makes horizontal scaling cheaper and faster. Finally, working with encrypted data is easier than ever, thanks to the addition of range queries in Queryable Encryption (which allows customers to encrypt, store, and perform queries directly on data). Whether you’re a startup building your first app, or you’re a global enterprise managing mission-critical workloads, MongoDB 8.0 offers unmatched power and flexibility, solidifying MongoDB’s place as the world’s most popular document database. Learn more about what makes 8.0 the best version of MongoDB ever on the MongoDB 8.0 page . Delivering customer value with the MongoDB AI Applications Program AI applications have become a cornerstone of modern software, and MongoDB is committed to equipping customers with the technology, tools, and support they need to succeed on their AI journey. That’s why we launched the MongoDB AI Applications Program (MAAP) in 2024, a comprehensive program designed to accelerate the development of AI applications. By offering customers resources like access to AI specialists, an ecosystem of leading AI and tech companies, and AI architectural best practices supported by integrated services, MAAP helps solve customers’ most pressing business challenges, unlocks competitive advantages, and accelerates time to value for AI investments. Overall, MAAP’s aim is to set customers on the path to AI success. Visit the MongoDB AI Applications Program page or watch our session from AWS re:Invent to learn more! Advancing AI with MongoDB Atlas Vector Search In 2024, MongoDB further cemented its role in the AI space with enhancements to MongoDB Atlas Vector Search . Recognized in 2024 (for the second consecutive year!) as one of the most loved vector databases , MongoDB continues to provide a scalable, unified, and secure platform for building cutting-edge AI use cases. Recent advancements like vector quantization in Atlas Vector Search help deliver even more value to our customers, enabling them to scale applications to billions of vectors at a lower cost. Head over to our Atlas Vector Search quick start guide to get started with Atlas Vector Search today, or visit our AI resources hub to learn more about how MongoDB can power AI applications. Search Nodes: Performance at scale Search functionality is indispensable in modern applications, and with Atlas Search Nodes, organizations can now optimize their search workloads like never before. By providing dedicated infrastructure for Atlas Search and Vector Search workloads, Search Nodes ensure high performance (e.g., a 40–60% decrease in query times), scalability, and reliability, even for the most demanding use cases. As of this year , Search Nodes are generally available across AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure. This milestone underscores MongoDB’s commitment to delivering powerful solutions that scale alongside our customers’ needs. To learn more about Search Nodes, check out our documentation or watch our tutorial . Looking ahead: MongoDB’s 2025 predictions After the excitement of the past few years, 2025 will be defined by ensuring that technology investments deliver tangible value. Organizations remain excited about the potential AI and emerging technologies hold to solve real business challenges, but are increasingly focused on maintaining a return on investment. “Enterprises need to innovate faster than ever, but speed is no longer the only measure of success. Increasingly, organizations are laser-focused on ensuring that their technology investments directly address critical business challenges and provide clear ROI and competitive advantage—whether it’s optimizing supply chains, delivering hyper-personalized customer experiences, or scaling operations efficiently,” said Sahir Azam, Chief Product Officer at MongoDB. “In 2025, I expect to see organizations make significant strides in driving this innovation and efficiency by applying AI to more production use cases and by maturing the way they leverage their data to build compelling and differentiated customer experiences.” Indeed, we expect to see organizations make more strategic investments in emerging technologies like gen AI—innovating with a sharp focus on solving business challenges. “In 2025, we can expect the focus to shift from ‘what AI can do’ to ‘what AI should do,’ moving beyond the hype to a clearer understanding of where AI can provide real value and where human judgment is still irreplaceable,” said Tara Hernandez, VP of Developer Productivity at MongoDB. “As we advance, I think we’ll see organizations begin to adopt more selective, careful applications of AI, particularly in areas where stakes are high, such as healthcare, finance, and public safety. A refined approach to AI development will be essential—not only for producing quality results but also to build trust, ensuring these tools genuinely support human goals rather than undermining them.” With more capable, accessible application development tools and customer-focused programs like MAAP at developers’ fingertips, 2025 is an opportunity to make a data-driven impact faster than ever before. "Right now, organizations have an opportunity to leverage their data to reimagine how they do business, to more effectively adapt to a changing world, and to revolutionize our quality of life,” said Andrew Davidson, SVP of Products at MongoDB. “By harnessing our latest technologies, developers can build a foundation for a transformative future." Head over to our updates page to learn more about the new releases and updates from MongoDB in 2024. Keep an eye on our events page to learn what's to come from MongoDB in 2025!

December 19, 2024