About the Author: Nithin Rao

A Milestone Moment for SkySQL and the MariaDB Community

Today we announced the launch of SkySQL Inc., a strategic spin-off from MariaDB plc, dedicated to delivering the best fully managed MariaDB experience in the cloud. This allows us to focus exclusively on enhancing and expanding the SkySQL Database as a Service (DBaaS) offering, building upon the strong foundation laid by MariaDB.

SkySQL is already relied upon by customers of all sizes, in various industries around the world. They can now rest assured that SkySQL will not only live on, but that the pace of innovation and new feature delivery will accelerate going forward.

The Team and Investors

Joining me are co-founders Jags Ramnarayan (CTO) and Saravana Krishnamurthy (CPO) as well as the core technical team that developed and operated SkySQL within MariaDB. Preserving this core team ensures that we can execute a quick transition, hit the ground running and immediately focus on delivering value for our customers.

MariaDB will take an equity stake in SkySQL, underscoring a long term, collaborative relationship between our two companies. Our group of investors, led by Sundeep Madra, an accomplished serial entrepreneur and investor with a strong track record, ensures that we are well funded and positioned for enduring success.

Why customers choose SkySQL

Despite MariaDB’s widespread adoption – it is used by over 75% of Fortune 500 companies and included in numerous Linux distributions – there are very few fully managed cloud database services that support it. In the rapidly evolving world of app development, where generative AI as well as no-code and low-code tools are accelerating the pace of innovation, cloud database services must keep up. That is where SkySQL comes in, offering a MariaDB cloud solution that addresses the three core challenges in database management: maintaining robust health and performance, optimizing costs, and increasing developer productivity.

Always Healthy: SkySQL ensures that your database is not just operational, but also delivers consistent response times even under changing workloads, a shift from just an “always on”, to “always healthy” mentality. Incorporating MariaDB’s MaxScale smart proxy, the system intelligently manages failures and monitors replication lag, maintaining data consistency at all times. With SkySQL’s unique multi-cloud capabilities, you can replicate data in near real time not only to remote global regions but also across different cloud providers in the same region for robust disaster recovery with minimal latency. 

Cost Optimization: SkySQL is the only cloud MariaDB service with horizontal and vertical auto-scaling of both compute and storage, to allow both cost and performance optimization. Our comprehensive service includes features like unified monitoring and a rich set of APIs for resource management, all contributing to a more predictable and efficient cost structure. Additionally, SkySQL offers a transparent pricing model, ensuring clear and straightforward cost visibility from the outset, avoiding the hidden fees commonly found with other cloud database services. 

Enhanced Developer Productivity: SkySQL simplifies data migration from sources such as MySQL, Oracle and other MariaDB instances, reducing the need for extensive data engineering effort. Our fractional DBA service, SkyDBA, is delivered by a team of database experts ready to assist with your migration strategy and to help with ongoing database optimization as well. Our support for multi-model flexibility, such as handling JSON and SQL in a single database, empowers developers to build and adapt applications quickly and efficiently.

Whether you are dealing with evolving schemas, diverse usage patterns, or complex data migration challenges, SkySQL stands out as the best choice for fully managed cloud MariaDB and provides the tools and support to ensure your database operations are smooth and efficient.

We are at the dawn of an exciting journey. SkySQL is uniquely positioned to lead the charge in cloud database solutions. We are eager to engage with our community, customers, and partners as we forge this new path.

To learn more, sign up, or receive a demo, click here.

Nithin Rao
CEO, SkySQL