Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Database
    • Networking
    • Servers

    Open-Source Databases MySQL, PostgreSQL, Adoption Rising

    By
    Brian Prince
    -
    July 21, 2008
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      The open-source database market is continuing its upswing, and shows no signs of slowing down.

      A market update by Forrester Research puts the value of the open-source database market at $850 million, which includes software licensing, technical support and services. By 2010, the authors of the report estimate that figure will jump to $1.2 billion as enterprises look to open-source databases to support Web 2.0 applications and other workloads.

      Most interestingly, this growth is happening despite the fact that enterprises are generally not in a hurry to rip out proprietary databases and replace them with open-source technology. Partly, this is due to enterprises being slow to use open-source databases for mission-critical applications. Recent research by The 451 Group, for example, found that enterprises were generally using open source to avoid paying for additional database licenses from proprietary vendors for new projects in specific application areas, such as development and testing environments.

      But there are also other reasons, such as the cost of a migration and the amount of work involved, said Noel Yuhanna, one of the authors of the Forrester report.

      “Enterprises would like to rip and replace commercial DBMS[es] in favor of open source, but it’s a technology challenge-it’s not straightforward,” the Forrester analyst said. “Every DBMS has proprietary things such as SQL extensions, integration and APIs, which makes migrating very complex. Even today, there have been some solutions that can help automate the migration of one DBMS with another, but it’s not 100 percent, it’s like 80 to 85 percent, which leaves the remaining work to be done manually.”

      Back in April, Zack Urlocker, vice president of products for Sun Microsystems’ Database Group, told eWEEK that the company was more focused on ensuring that MySQL is the No. 1 database for online applications than replacing the traditional client/server database.

      “We continue to focus on large-scale Web applications, enterprise 2.0 applications that leverage Web infrastructure, telecommunications and other growth areas,” Urlocker said via e-mail.

      Given how rare replacement projects are, it’s not surprising open-source vendors are investing more in targeting new deployments than in improving their migration capabilities, said Matt Aslett, an analyst with The 451 Group.

      “Even EnterpriseDB, which offers proprietary Oracle-compatible functionality on top of PostgreSQL, is pitched more at Oracle avoidance projects than Oracle replacement projects,” Aslett said.

      One of the most commonly heard knocks on open source is a lack of support. But when Sun purchased MySQL earlier in 2008, many observers said they expected enterprises to step up open-source database adoption now that MySQL had such a big backer. Sun also packages, distributes and supports a version of the PostgreSQL database.

      Time will tell however, just how much ground open source will gain in the face of competition from Oracle, Microsoft and IBM, which remain the top three database vendors.

      “I don’t see major changes in the market concentration among commercial DBMS vendors, especially among Microsoft and Oracle-and especially on Windows and Unix/Linux, respectively,” said Peter O’Kelly, an analyst with the Burton Group. “IBM is still a major player as well, but less so on Lintel and Wintel than on IBM mainframes and midrange boxes, where DB2 essentially has a DBMS market monopoly at this point. MySQL will continue as part of the LAMP [Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP/Python/Perl] stack and will continue to do well for high-end, federated content, and both EnterpriseDB and Ingres will have some market penetration, but the mainstream commercial DBMS is dominated by Oracle, Microsoft and IBM, and is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future.”

      Brian Prince
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Applications

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Applications

      Kyndryl’s Nicolas Sekkaki on Handling AI and...

      James Maguire - November 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nicolas Sekkaki, Group Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, about how companies can boost both their AI and...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×