Businessmodel of MemSQL

Customer Segments

MemSQL has a niche market business model, catering to a specialized customer segment. The company’s target audience is organizations whose operations involve high-volume online transactions.

It currently focuses on the following specific industries: AdTech, Financial Services, High Technology, Retail and Commerce, Public Sector, Energy, and Media and Communications.

Value Proposition

MemSQL offers three primary value propositions: convenience, cost reduction, and accessibility.

The company’s database allows users to absorb data streams, process transactions, and conduct analytics in a single database, simultaneously. This enables real-time retrieval of insights, saving time.

The database utilizes a distributed computing model, making it simpler to set up, maintain, and scale. This results in the reduction of initial and ongoing maintenance costs.

Finally, MemSQL offers a free Community Edition of the database in addition to the paid Enterprise Edition. This makes the advantages offered by the system accessible to parties beyond organizations, such as developers.

Channels

MemSQL’s main channel is the Internet (its main website and social media pages). It also communicates with customers via e-mail, its phone line, and its attendance at various in-person events (annual conferences, industry trade shows, and meetups).

Customer Relationships

MemSQL’s customer relationship is primarily of a self-service, automated nature. Customers utilize the service through the main platform while having limited interaction with employees. That said, there is also a personal assistance component - users of the Enterprise Edition have access to 24/7 support via phone and e-mail.

Key Activities

MemSQL’s key activities focus on platform management. The company’s business model entails maintaining its software platform for customers.

Key Partners

MemSQL maintains the MemSQL Partner Program, which enables resellers to expand their business to include the company’s products. MemSQL provides infrastructure, tools, and general support to its partners to help them strengthen their market position. The company’s current partners are as follows:

• Tableau
• Zoomdata
• Looker
• Amazon Web Services
• Microsoft Azure
• Google Cloud Platform
• Mesosphere
• MicroStrategy ### Key Resources

MemSQL’s primary resource is its intellectual property, the proprietary software platform.

It also depends on its human resources to ensure user satisfaction, utilizing a large service staff to provide 24/7 customer support.

Lastly, as a relatively new start-up it has relied heavily on funding from investors, raising $45 million from 23 investors as of September 2014.

Cost Structure

MemSQL has a value-driven structure, emphasizing quality and highly personalized service. The company’s top cost driver is a fixed cost, sales and marketing, since as a relatively new business it needs to get the word out. Other major costs include research and development expenses (fixed) and customer support expenses (fixed).

Revenue Streams

MemSQL has one revenue stream: sales of its product. The company does not offer fixed prices; rather, pricing is tailored to each customer based on individual needs. Specifically, customers pay based on amount of capacity used by the database.