I was recently prompted by OrientDB CEO Luca Garulli to take another look at the NoSQL LinkedIn Skills Index, which we previously updated on a regular basis between September 2012 and 2015.

Hey @maslett, Do you have any plan to update the #NoSQL LinkedIn Skill Index report? Last was more than 1y ago: https://t.co/HKRWJID8nz

— Luca Garulli (@lgarulli) December 9, 2016

I wouldn’t read too much into the results since there’s been such a long period between updates, and this is – as ever – just a snapshot of one particular data source. However, they are definitely interesting, especially when you consider that we retired the NoSQL LinkedIn Skills Index primarily because the results had become so boringly predictable.

As such I’d make the following observations without any additional comment:

• It is interesting to note that MongoDB’s share of mentions of NoSQL databases in LinkedIn member profiles has declined since September 2015, from 51% to 48%. Of course, MongoDB remains the number one by a considerable margin.

• It is also interesting to note that Redis has climbed above Cassandra to claim second spot.

• Similarly it is interesting that Neo4j has climbed above CouchDB for fifth place.

• And it is also interesting that DynamoDB has overtaken Couchbase for eighth place.

• It is also interesting that the two fastest growing NoSQL databases, in terms of mentions in LinkedIn profiles, are Google Cloud Bigtable (up 557%) and Azure DocumentDB (up 254%).

• And it is also interesting that the third fastest growth came from RethinkDB, despite the recent demise of the company of the same name.

• Those growth rates saw Google Clooud Bigtable climb above Voldemort, ArangoDB, Hypertable and Allegrograph, while Azure DocumentDB climbed above Titan and Voldemort, and RethinkDB climbed above Titan and Accumulo.

Since Luca prompted another look at the results, I should also probably point out that mentions of OrientDB grew at a healthy 83% as OrientDB held on to 11th place in the Index.

Interesting…

Three years after we (re)started tracking mentions of NoSQL database in LinkedIn member profiles it is time to retire the NoSQL LinkedIn Skills Index – at least in terms of regular updates.

We started tracking mentions of NoSQL database in LinkedIn member profiles in order to keep an eye on trends that could shape the industry, but after three years it has become clear that in terms of LinkedIn member profiles there is only one trend: the total dominance of MongoDB.

Once again MongoDB was responsible for more than 50% of all mentions of NoSQL database in LinkedIn member profiles in Q3, placing it way, way ahead of the nearest competitor.

As always there were changes of position further down the rankings, with OrientDB overtaking Accumulo and RethinkDB overtaking Voldemort. We are talking about very small numbers, however. To be honest tracking these numbers has become something of a chore given the lack of change, and even the addition of Microsoft Azure DocumentDB and Google Cloud Bigtable couldn’t lift our interest

For the record, the fastest growth in the quarter was recorded by RethinkDB, with mentions up 36.2%, followed by multi-model players OrientDB (28.0%) and ArangoDB (23.0%), as well as Aerospike (22.1%). Inside the top ten, DynamoDB had the fastest growth (16.5%).

However, since none of the top 10 look like changing places any time soon, and none of the players outside stand any chance of breaking into the top 10, the time has come to retire the NoSQL LinkedIn Skills Index.

Perhaps we’ll pull it out and freshen it up on special occasions, however.

Of course, we would also note that this is not meant to be a comprehensive analysis, but rather a snapshot of one particular data source.