DbVisualizer has been the leading tool for database administrators, analysts, and developers since they launched 20 years ago. The universal database tool supports all popular databases and runs on all popular OSes, making it accessible for almost anyone working with any database on any platform.
We’ve sat down with Martin Engdahl, the CEO of DbVis Software to discuss how they’ve become so successful and why they have some of the most loyal customers in the industry.
CEO at DbVis Software
Below is our interview with Martin.
Can you please share a brief explanation of why DbVisualizer was created in the first place and the journey that has taken you to where you are today?
Roger Bjärevall, the founder of DbVis Software, worked at Sun Microsystems back in 1995 when Java was released. He worked as a developer and spent a lot of his time on databases. Back then, there were no tools that could help make sense of the structure of databases or the data within them. In 1998, only three years after Java was released, Roger decided to solve his problem himself during his spare time and developed a tool to help visualize, manage, manipulate, test, and optimize databases. This was the start of DbVisualizer.
In 1999 Roger decided to share his tool with others and published the 1.0 version online, free for anyone to download and use. The interest in the tool took off right away as it helped many database professionals streamline their everyday workflow. Because of the high engagement from users, Roger started receiving a lot of positive feedback and spent more time on improving the tool even further. After a while, the user-base had grown so much that Roger decided to dedicate himself to the product and started the company DbVis Software.
Roger has always made sure to develop features that solve significant problems for his users, listening closely to feedback and asking follow-up questions to users to fully understand their problems. Looking back at it now, it seems to have been a great recipe to build a popular product because database professionals all over the world started using his product, all based on personal recommendations and organic mouth to mouth.
During the years we’ve strengthened our product even more, and users keep sharing feedback with us about how DbVisualizer really helps them solve the problems that matter to them. Today we have paying customers at 25,000 companies in 145 countries around the world and have seen DbVisualizer being downloaded well over 5 million times.
Who are your customers?
Our users are the superstars of data. They understand how data is generated, stored, presented, analyzed, manipulated, and ultimately they know how data can help companies act better and smarter. Our users typically work at any of the 25,000 companies with the Pro version of DbVisualizer and include (but are not limited to) developers, database analysts, and DBAs.
What makes DbVisualizer essential, and how does it work?
DbVisualizer helps any database professional work effectively and efficiently. DbVisualizer is a very capable product and can help users with almost anything when working with databases. Even if DbVisualizer has an enormous capability, from the user’s perspective they really want to solve a set of problems, some of which are recurring often where they need quick access to the tools they need and want to avoid inventing the wheel multiple times. The magic of DbVisualizer really comes from the fact that each user can customize DbVisualizer to suit their workflow. Scripts can be saved and favorited, tabs and windows can be rearranged and saved for later, particular features can be tagged and so much more.
The fact that DbVisualizer connects to the most popular databases also means that once you’ve learned the tool, you can embrace it and stick to it for a long time, no matter what database you find yourself working with.
As the name hints at, one of the many things users love about the tool is its ability to automatically visualize databases. Many users love our visual tools to understand relationships and dependencies between various tables or data. And there is so much more. A modern SQL editor with automatic formatting, auto-completion, and a drag-drop query builder. You’ll also find features for monitoring, running, explaining plans, variables, and the list goes on and on. We’re really proud of what we’ve built and how it helps our users around the world.
You offer a Free and a Pro version of DbVisualizer. What are the differences and which should users go for and why?
Since day one we have offered our product for free to users that need common tools for managing their databases. Our free version also includes a lot of open source code, which we contribute to. Also, worth mentioning is that we offer our Pro version for free to students and faculty members.
The difference between the Free and Pro version of DbVisualizer is quite straightforward. The free version will allow users to connect to any of our supported databases, and get access to the essential functions such as the SQL editor, visualizing the database, managing objects, and browsing data, etc. Our Pro version comes with the extra features that are required by many database professionals and organizations, such as setting up secure SSH connections, export/import schemas, query builder, spreadsheet like editing of data, the command-line interface, and much more, as well as getting access to our premium support service.
We are investing heavily in our Free version to make sure it is the best tool for anyone that needs to manage their databases without any of the more advanced features. Even if we already believe it is the best free database tool available, we want to make sure it keeps getting better with every release.
And if you need more advanced features, security, or support you can upgrade to the Pro version. Just like most of our professional customers.
What are some of the perks of using DbVisualizer? What are the downsides, and what are you doing to change that?
The advantages of using DbVisualizer are many, and they are very different based on what you are trying to achieve as a user. First of all, it is easy to get started. Simply download the software from our website, install it, and connect to your database. Once connected you will enjoy customizing the tool to fit your needs and workflow perfectly. You can save and sort various scripts and queries, you can save specific database objects as favorites for quick access, you can arrange the workspace to easily jump between tasks and so much more.
Once you are in the weeds you’ll find many useful tools that simplify almost every aspect of your workflow, such as auto-formatting of SQL, comparing queries with each other, a visual drag-and-drop query builder and so much more. The list of features is way too long to cover here, but each feature is built to help make your life easier. The downside of using DbVisualizer today is the limited support for NoSQL data sources. While we have some basic functionality that is enough for many users, many of the advanced features of our software have been built with relational databases in mind. As the relation between objects is missing from NoSQL data sources we, and the rest of the industry, need to re-imagine what assistance database professionals really need when working with these technologies.
As one of the top choices in your industry, what are some things you do to ensure you are the best?
It is in our DNA to develop features that really matter for our users. The exciting thing about helping users solve data challenges is that the industry keeps evolving and what was a complex problem yesterday can be a basic necessity tomorrow.
Every user suggestion, bug report, or general product support request is taken care of by the development team directly. We’ve found this to be crucial for the team to stay connected with the users and spend their time working on issues that really matter. As true developers, they’ve also optimized the support process to the extent that it only takes a few posts between the user and the team to resolve any issues or questions.
We will keep investing in our product to make sure our users are equipped with state-of-the-art tools that help them become masters of data. We invest in making the product even simpler to use, seamlessly helping users with specific use-cases. We invest in making the product support more data sources, as users have an increased need of consolidating data from multiple sources. We invest in stability to make sure the product keeps performing reliably and minimize potential bugs. We also invest heavily in understanding our users, their problems, and how we best can add features that truly help users in their everyday life. That is ultimately what matters. Investing in the user.
How can companies get in touch with DbVis Software?
Feel free to contact our sales team directly through our website.
About DbVisualizer
DbVisualizer has everything you need to build, manage and maintain state-of-the-art database technologies. Each feature has been thoughtfully crafted and improved for over a decade to help solve real-world problems. We do offer a 21-day free trial so you can take DbVisualizer for a test drive and check out all the features yourself.
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