Start with Relational Databases

I'll start with relational database management systems (RDBMS) as the first part of the software industry to analyze. Here are several reasons why I've started with RDBMS:

1. RDBMS is a large market in its own right, producing $15-16 billion worldwide revenues in 2006 according to Gartner Group and IDC.



2. Relational databases form the foundation layer of enterprise software applications. An understanding of the RDBMS market will help in understanding the enterprise software market, and in particular to evaluate the Oracle and Microsoft growth strategies in enterprise software. Furthermore, the continuing demand for enterprise software should support continued growth in the RDBMS market.



3. Three players (Oracle, Microsoft, IBM) have demonstrated what appear to be "winning" strategies; together, the three have consistently dominated the market over the past decade. Their successes may offer insights for other parts of the software industry.



4. The industry leaders now face a robust and increasing threat from open source, most notably MySQL. This struggle may offer a preview into the challenges that other parts of the software industry will face due to the incursions of open source.



5. The underlying technology itself is maturing, but is by no means mature. RDBMS vendors continue to upgrade their products and release new versions, expanding the scope, scale and types of data their systems can manage.