FileMaker Trends

This is an experiment in adding to the rather meagre amount of information available regarding the state of the FileMaker market.

Anyone wanting to make decisions based the size of the FileMaker market, and whether or not it is growing, is short of information. FileMaker Inc. state only that the total number of units shipped is "more than 16 million", and that they have "shipped more than a million software units" (all products, not just FileMaker Pro) in each of their last two fiscal years (this statement has not yet been updated since the end of their last financial year). FileMaker's parent, Apple, does not disclose any figures for FileMaker in it's public finacial reports. There is the Google Trends information for FileMaker showing a seemingly ineluctable decline in interest… but this is, to a degree, misleading: trends for MySQL, PHP and database show a similar, if possibly gentler, downward slope.

Below are charts of the number of consultants listed on the FileMaker Web site and also the number of jobs available on two FileMaker specific job sites. The overall numbers may or may not be interesting, and there will be short term fluctuations, but it seems possible that over time both of these may serve as proxies for the growth of the FileMaker market. It's important not to read too much into these numbers: there are reasons why they may change that are independent from the size of the FileMaker market changing.

It will take a while before it becomes apparent if gathering this data is useful. After 8 months the trend looks to be fairly flat, but it will likely be at least a year, so that seasonal variations can be accounted for, before it is possible to say with any certainty what is happening.

The charts are updated daily and a file CSV file containing the raw data is available. For comments, questions or suggestions please use the contact form.

FBA Locations

The number of consultants, offices of FBA members, listed in the FileMaker Consultant Search.

Notes

The value charted prior to September 22, 2011 is the number of offices, not the number of FBA members. An estimate for the number of members, as opposed to locations, prior to that date is included to give a better indication of the trend.
Not all FBA members are listed in the consultant search. FileMaker give a total of "more than 1200".
The chart does not take account of the size of FBA members' business. It's possible that the number of developers employed by FBA members may be rising or falling independent to the number of FBA members.

FileMaker Jobs Listed

The number of jobs listed on the sites Find FileMaker Developers and FileMaker Job Board

Notes

The listing does not distinguish between full and part time, permanent and contract, or make any effort to check if jobs are appearing in both listings.
There is at least one other listing of FileMaker jobs at FMPro.org, however, there does not appear to be a way to obtain a count of current openings.

Thanks

Thanks to Nunz Gambale of Bearcage, Nick Orr of Goya, Kent Lendrum of Kamar and Samuel Toombs of screenrights for their constructive criticism.

Contact | Home | FileMaker