A Retrospection On Niche Database Technologies

Today commercial relational database management systems (RDBs) and supporting tools (database design tools, graphical database browsers, application generators, query tools, etc.) from several major vendors are used to suit most data management needs around the world. The database market is now dominated by the Big Three: IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle. Initially, commercial RDBs supported the first normal form relational data model and SQL query language, along with basic transaction management and access authorization facilities. They mostly ran on a few UNIX platforms. The scope and sophistication of the functionality they support, and the performance they deliver have all substantially matured during the past twenty years. They have also been made to run on most computers and operating systems. However, the often frustratingly long periods that it took major vendors to shore up various shortcomings of RDBs have led to the introduction of what I will call “niche database” technologies during this period of maturation. Each niche database technology came about to address typically one major shortcoming in then-existing RDBs. The technologies the vendors introduced and the efforts they made to market the technologies often provided a key incentive to major vendors to upgrade their RDBs with the same technologies. The financial wherewithal, customer loyalty, and marketing prowess of the major RDB vendors have simply overpowered vendors of niche database technologies. For these and other reasons, except for about a dozen vendors, niche database technology vendors have generally failed to grow into sustained large business entities. Today the maturity of RDBs, the expectation of the customer base, and the domination of the market by the Big Three make it very difficult for the entry of new niche database technology vendors.