[xquery-talk] the market of XQuery

[Michael Kay]

> On 18 Jun 2015, at 18:19, daniela florescu <dflorescu at me.com> wrote:
> 
> XQuery is supposed to solve the problem of processing XML data.
> 
> So far so good.
> 
> I claim that the market for XML processing RIGHT NOW is not that big.


XML only became ubiquitous because it was cheap: it grew on the back of free software (either open source, or given away by the likes of Microsoft).

Measured by the number of users, the market for XML software is immense. Measured by the amount of money, it is quite modest, because all those users who adopted XML at zero cost need a big incentive to start spending money. And of course when software is free, the decision to adopt is made by developers, but once money is involved, you have to start making a business case to people who have no idea what the benefits are. I know some very large and profitable organizations where the developers have been trying for years to get the management to part with a few thousand dollars, but haven’t been able to get the message across.

Of course, one response to that is to create a highly paid sales force, but then you have to raise the price to the hundred thousand level to pay their bonuses.

Michael Kay
Saxonica