7 ms·

It's really great to see useful software like this becoming freely available but I do sometimes worry about the effect big players like Google have on niche mar

It's really great to see useful software like this becoming freely available but I do sometimes worry about the effect big players like Google have on niche markets like this. Any company building products in this space are about to feel the squeeze as their potential customers instead pick the free option. Small products inside of a big company don't have to be independently viable. It seems like the natural conclusion to this setup, whether intentional or not, is that the big companies create monopolies in these niches by pricing out the competition. That's great for the consumer while everything's free and there are still alternatives. I'm not sure how this will play out in the long run though.

bigtones 10y ago
Similar could be said for Microsoft and their PowerBI tool.
Godel_unicode 10y ago
I feel like companies whose niche is tooling to analyze Google data are living on borrowed time as it is. I would assume that they would have some advantages beyond Google not being interested in their market, otherwise this kind of disruption seems inevitable.
- anewhnaccount 10y ago
  I guess at least some of these types of companies are consultancy companies disguised as product companies? If that's the case they might not be affected too badly.
- jstandard 10y ago
  There is some truth to this, however Google Data Studio can also hook up to Postgres and Mysql data stores making it a bit more than Google-specific tooling.
slap_shot 10y ago
It just comes down to specialization. The BI tools that succeed will be the ones that offer features that Google will never pursue. A perfect example would be Looker's LookML[0] - companies that don't need that sort of functionality will be fine with Google Data Studio. But if you need that functionality (and it is very, very nice) - you'll pay Looker. https://looker.com/ https://looker.com/
- benjaminjosephw 10y ago
  But who's to say that Google will never pursue this market too?
  - nowarninglabel 10y ago
    Google doesn't really excel at markets such as Looker's. We happily pay for Looker and get excellent support from them. It'd take many, many years of hearing success stories with Google before I'd even consider moving off of Looker on to a competitive product by them and even then the switching costs would unlikely to ever be worth it.
    - lmeyerov 10y ago
      Sort of how Google pays for a quantum computer while building a new one? ;-) Today the Tableaus of the world grow the market, but I think they'll naturally consolidate under bigger umbrellas. I bet Microsoft is watching Google's moves here closely. Just as MS grew from Excel to PowerBI and AzureML etc., Google's cloud initiative would naturally grow from Spreadsheets to something like the above. Single-service startups and even the Tableaus of the world may be temporary noise: the $xxB goal is instead getting more gravity than AWS and MS for cloud data workflows. The monopoly play is create good-enough analytics software, make it free on the dimensions smaller companies like Looker charge for, and undercut by instead bundling into overall Google/Azure/AWS deals. Commodify the market but get more of it. We looked into BI a few years ago for where we should leverage our client/cloud GPU tech, and decided BI was an execution sprint to $100M and then bail. So, while I wish the best to my (smart!) colleagues at Looker, Periscope, MapD, etc., we decided to go another way. And... Worth mentioning, we're hiring! ;-) build@graphistry.
jstandard 10y ago
It does create a tough market dynamic. I'm seeing this from both sides as a founder running a company that is competing with Google as well as when deciding which tools to run my business on. The "what happens if Google comes into your market" threat is real. However, Google's size, bureaucracy, and poor support (they are making slow progress here) give smaller, more focused players the opportunity to out-innovate or simply offer an alternative to those wary of ecosystem lock-in. It does make the little guys have to scrap a lot harder. In some cases it pushes technology forward. In others, the pricing pressure can starve innovative companies out of the game because "free*" is so compelling.
rkunnamp 10y ago
"Any company building products in this space are about to feel the squeeze" We are feeling the heat at http://www.reportdash.com http://www.reportdash.com

bigtones 10y ago

Similar could be said for Microsoft and their PowerBI tool.

Godel_unicode 10y ago

I feel like companies whose niche is tooling to analyze Google data are living on borrowed time as it is. I would assume that they would have some advantages beyond Google not being interested in their market, otherwise this kind of disruption seems inevitable.

anewhnaccount 10y ago
I guess at least some of these types of companies are consultancy companies disguised as product companies? If that's the case they might not be affected too badly.
jstandard 10y ago
There is some truth to this, however Google Data Studio can also hook up to Postgres and Mysql data stores making it a bit more than Google-specific tooling.

slap_shot 10y ago

It just comes down to specialization. The BI tools that succeed will be the ones that offer features that Google will never pursue. A perfect example would be Looker's LookML[0] - companies that don't need that sort of functionality will be fine with Google Data Studio. But if you need that functionality (and it is very, very nice) - you'll pay Looker. https://looker.com/ https://looker.com/

benjaminjosephw 10y ago
But who's to say that Google will never pursue this market too?
- nowarninglabel 10y ago
  Google doesn't really excel at markets such as Looker's. We happily pay for Looker and get excellent support from them. It'd take many, many years of hearing success stories with Google before I'd even consider moving off of Looker on to a competitive product by them and even then the switching costs would unlikely to ever be worth it.
  - lmeyerov 10y ago
    Sort of how Google pays for a quantum computer while building a new one? ;-) Today the Tableaus of the world grow the market, but I think they'll naturally consolidate under bigger umbrellas. I bet Microsoft is watching Google's moves here closely. Just as MS grew from Excel to PowerBI and AzureML etc., Google's cloud initiative would naturally grow from Spreadsheets to something like the above. Single-service startups and even the Tableaus of the world may be temporary noise: the $xxB goal is instead getting more gravity than AWS and MS for cloud data workflows. The monopoly play is create good-enough analytics software, make it free on the dimensions smaller companies like Looker charge for, and undercut by instead bundling into overall Google/Azure/AWS deals. Commodify the market but get more of it. We looked into BI a few years ago for where we should leverage our client/cloud GPU tech, and decided BI was an execution sprint to $100M and then bail. So, while I wish the best to my (smart!) colleagues at Looker, Periscope, MapD, etc., we decided to go another way. And... Worth mentioning, we're hiring! ;-) build@graphistry.

jstandard 10y ago

It does create a tough market dynamic. I'm seeing this from both sides as a founder running a company that is competing with Google as well as when deciding which tools to run my business on. The "what happens if Google comes into your market" threat is real. However, Google's size, bureaucracy, and poor support (they are making slow progress here) give smaller, more focused players the opportunity to out-innovate or simply offer an alternative to those wary of ecosystem lock-in. It does make the little guys have to scrap a lot harder. In some cases it pushes technology forward. In others, the pricing pressure can starve innovative companies out of the game because "free*" is so compelling.

rkunnamp 10y ago

"Any company building products in this space are about to feel the squeeze" We are feeling the heat at http://www.reportdash.com http://www.reportdash.com