Developers and Payment Resistance

CockroachDB: A Focus on Developer Relations and Product Strategy

The preceding section of this EC-1 series examined the technical specifications of CockroachDB and its capacity for delivering precise data with immediacy, regardless of geographical location. This installment will shift focus to the product aspects of Cockroach, specifically concentrating on its developer relations initiatives.

Cockroach Labs: Position and Potential

Cockroach Labs possesses several advantageous characteristics as a business. Their methodology concerning distributed database technology is innovative and distinct. With an increasing number of organizations functioning on a global scale, CockroachDB is poised to capture a substantial portion of the international market.

Currently in its seventh year within the conventional ten-year maturation cycle for databases, the company has successfully secured $355 million in funding and boasts a $2 billion valuation. This status designates it as a “double unicorn,” a distinction achieved by very few database companies.

Growth Strategy: Developers and Cloud Adoption

However, continued expansion is contingent upon cultivating strong developer loyalty and simultaneously enhancing product usability for new users. Therefore, an analysis of the company’s transition to a cloud-based model, alongside its comprehensive developer outreach programs, is crucial to understanding its strategy for sustained, long-term success.

The company is actively working to establish itself for enduring, sustainable growth. This involves a dual approach: attracting and retaining developers, and simplifying the user experience for new clientele.

Key Areas of Focus

Developer Engagement: Extensive outreach programs are designed to foster a thriving developer community.
Cloud Transition: A strategic pivot to cloud services is underway to broaden accessibility.
Product Usability: Efforts are being made to streamline the product for easier adoption by new customers.

These initiatives are central to Cockroach Labs’ ambition to become a leading provider of distributed database solutions. Successfully navigating these areas will be vital for realizing its full potential.

Cockroach Labs Shifts Focus to Cloud Services

A significant number of modern businesses now deliver their services over the internet, and an increasing proportion rely on offerings from established cloud providers. Gartner’s 2019 forecast indicated a 17.5% annual growth rate for cloud services, a trend that continues unabated.

The founders of Cockroach Labs, drawing on their experience at Google during the mid-2000s, have consistently recognized the influence of cloud services on the commercial web. Consequently, CockroachDB was designed for cloud-native operation from its initial release, with its architecture inherently suited to cloud environments – as previously discussed in part 2 of this series.

Initially, the company’s business strategy revolved around licensing its technology to enterprises and providing associated integration services. Organizations interested in utilizing CockroachDB were required to establish their own cloud infrastructure, install the database, and then manage and optimize its performance based on evolving application demands. While some companies possess the necessary expertise for this undertaking, it restricted the potential customer base for CockroachDB.

To overcome this limitation, Cockroach Labs is now actively expanding its presence in the database-as-a-service (DBaaS) market, offering a fully managed version of its technology. This broadened approach allows a wider range of clients to quickly benefit from its products.

The simplicity of DBaaS has fueled its growing popularity in recent years, as companies have become increasingly receptive to this service model. IMARC Group’s research last year projected a 20% growth rate for DBaaS between 2021 and 2026, starting from a 2020 market value of $12.8 billion. Current indicators suggest these projections are accurate and may even be accelerating, particularly given the surge in internet service usage during the recent pandemic.

To safeguard its future, Cockroach Labs proactively protected its intellectual property from unauthorized use by other cloud providers by transitioning from the Apache License 2.0 to a modified Business Source License (BSL) in 2019. As Chief Revenue Officer Jeff Miller stated, “ … we’ve protected ourselves with the licensing model so that cloud providers cannot cannibalize us.”

“developers, as you know, do not like to pay for things”

The company’s blog post at the time elaborated on this decision:

Cockroach Labs understood the potential for revenue generation within the cloud computing space. The question wasn’t whether they would offer CockroachDB as a database-as-a-service, but rather when. They ultimately made the move in 2019 with the launch of CockroachCloud.

CockroachCloud Setup and Cost Structure

CockroachCloud represents a complete, managed implementation of the CockroachDB database system, delivered as a Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) offering. Users establish an account with the platform, submit necessary billing details, and subsequently deploy multimachine, multiregion CockroachDB clusters.

It’s important to note that CockroachCloud doesn’t directly manage the physical hosting of these clusters. Instead, currently, deployments are executed within infrastructure provided by either Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Google Cloud (GC) data center locations.

Support for Microsoft Azure is not currently available, however, Jim Walker, Director of Product Marketing at Cockroach Labs, has indicated that this functionality is planned for future release.

Cluster creation and database management, alongside user privilege assignment, are facilitated through the browser-based CockroachCloud Console.

Following deployment, interaction with the database cluster can be achieved using the CockroachCloud command-line interface or through graphical tools like DBVisualizer.

These tools constitute the entirety of the administration requirements for the product. At the application level, CockroachCloud furnishes the necessary connection strings and parameters, enabling applications to connect to the database cluster utilizing standard PostgreSQL database drivers, which are broadly supported across numerous programming languages.

Essential tasks such as backups, adherence to regulatory standards, security protocols, resource provisioning, and scalability are all managed automatically within the cloud environment. The core benefit of utilizing CockroachCloud lies in the ability to leverage the advantages of globally distributed CockroachDB clusters without incurring the costs associated with dedicated personnel and computing infrastructure.

The pricing model for CockroachCloud mirrors that of other cloud services, operating on a subscription basis. Charges are calculated based on metered usage, specifically per-node and per-hour, through the company’s self-service portal.

When a cluster is provisioned, the user selects their preferred public cloud storage provider. Subscribers are not billed separately for hosting costs on AWS or Google Cloud, as these expenses are integrated into CockroachCloud’s overall pricing structure.

Costs range from $0.50 to $3.83 per hour, contingent upon the chosen node configuration. It is worth noting that, as of July 2021, pricing for comparable hardware was marginally higher on AWS than on Google Cloud, by approximately 10%-15%.

CockroachCloud’s pricing schedule, as it appeared in July 2021, is detailed in the screenshot provided below.

In contrast to conventional enterprise service agreements, self-service subscribers to CockroachCloud are granted access to unlimited support tickets, with a guaranteed response time of 24 hours. Furthermore, a more comprehensive Premier support service is available at a higher cost. Specific pricing details for enterprise contracts and Premier support were not disclosed to TechCrunch by the company.

Understanding Developer Preferences and CockroachDB's Free Tier

CockroachDB is distributed as a free and open-source product, mirroring the accessibility of widely-used databases such as MySQL and MariaDB. Installation and initial setup incur no costs.

However, Spencer Kimball, co-founder and CEO of Cockroach Labs, draws upon his extensive experience as a software developer to highlight key considerations for technology adoption. He recognizes the importance of developer support and, crucially, the general reluctance of developers to incur expenses.

Kimball articulates this understanding succinctly: “Developers, as you know, do not like to pay for things.” This insight drives the strategy to offer a perpetually free database option. The goal is to allow exploration and engagement without requiring immediate financial commitment.

Consequently, CockroachLabs provides a completely free developer version of CockroachCloud, alongside its paid self-service and enterprise solutions. Access is granted following a simple registration process, requiring only basic information.

Upon registration, developers gain access to a CockroachDB cluster hosted on a scaled environment within Google Cloud. Notably, a credit card is not required for access.

The free tier allows developers to configure event alerts within their cluster. However, limitations exist, including a restriction to a single cluster and the absence of backup capabilities.

Advanced system monitoring features, available in paid subscriptions, are also not included. Despite these limitations, the free tier provides sufficient functionality for developers to gain practical experience with CockroachCloud.

Comparison with Competitor Offerings

This free tier is particularly attractive when contrasted with the free offerings of competing SQL database providers. Microsoft provides SQL Server Express, while Oracle offers Oracle Database 18c Express Edition (XE).

While these express versions are valuable for experimentation, they are generally not designed for production environments. CockroachDB distinguishes itself by being production-ready from the outset.

MySQL and MariaDB also present viable alternatives with production capabilities. However, CockroachDB possesses a unique advantage.

The free version of CockroachDB natively supports global clustering. Organizations can deploy a fully functional, multi-region cluster without any upfront costs. Other database vendors typically reserve such functionality for their enterprise-level, paid subscriptions.

Capturing and Retaining Developer Interest

The importance of developer adoption was famously highlighted in 2000 by Steve Ballmer, then CEO of Microsoft, during a passionate address at the Windows Developer Conference. His emphatic repetition of “Developers, developers, developers!” underscored a critical truth: success in the software industry hinges on attracting and engaging developers.

Recognizing this, Cockroach Labs is dedicated to simplifying and enhancing the developer experience with CockroachDB. Significant effort has been invested to ensure a smooth and compelling onboarding process.

The technical documentation for CockroachDB is meticulously organized, visually appealing, and interactive. Beyond standard resources like quickstarts and comprehensive API references, developers can gain hands-on experience through the SQL Playground, directly on the website.

This SQL Playground allows for interactive coding in Cockroach SQL, a language extension created by Cockroach Labs specifically designed to manage global data within CockroachDB.

Beyond the SQL Playground, Cockroach Labs offers a suite of interactive tutorials. These tutorials leverage Katacoda’s learning platform, a technology also utilized by Red Hat for OpenShift training and the Cloud Native Computing Foundation for Kubernetes education.

Formal developer education is provided through Cockroach University, offering free online courses. Furthermore, the company maintains a robust presence on YouTube with instructional videos and live streams on Twitch.

Developers have the opportunity to validate their expertise by pursuing certifications, showcasing their proficiency in CockroachDB. To further stimulate engagement, Cockroach Labs regularly hosts hackathons focused on its products.

However, comprehensive developer support is insufficient without a competitive feature set. Fortunately, CockroachDB possesses the capabilities to effectively compete with comparable services.

The Growth Potential of CockroachCloud

A significant benefit for companies transitioning to a software-as-a-service (SaaS) or platform-as-a-service (PaaS) model lies in the potential for revenue growth through service diversification.

Initially, Amazon Web Services (AWS) focused on providing storage solutions with S3 and virtual machine hosting through EC2. Subsequently, AWS significantly broadened its service portfolio, resulting in a corresponding increase in revenue.

When questioned about similar expansion plans for Cockroach Labs, the response indicated a future consideration.

According to Walker, the director of product marketing, the immediate priority is perfecting a relational database designed for worldwide accessibility. The core objective is to develop this relational, transactional system and deliver it in a manner that aligns with customer preferences, primarily via cloud-based access.

This vision centers around a serverless database concept, eliminating the need for users to manage scaling concerns.

While Cockroach Labs recognizes the substantial growth opportunities beyond core data management, its current and near-future strategy centers on refining its foundational technology, CockroachDB.

This is a prudent approach, given the highly competitive nature of the SQL database market, a landscape we will analyze in the concluding section of this EC-1 series.