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Technical Whitepaper for Database Platforms

An in-depth document that explains the technical approach, architecture, or methodology behind your product. Whitepapers establish credibility with technical buyers and evaluators.

Why Database Platforms Companies Need This

For database platforms products, a well-crafted technical whitepaper is essential. Your target buyers—Backend Engineers, Database Administrators, Architects—are evaluating multiple solutions and need to quickly understand why your product is the right choice.

The unique challenges of marketing database platforms mean your technical whitepaper needs to:

! Address: Differentiating in a mature market
! Address: Addressing migration risk concerns
! Address: Explaining pricing models clearly

Key Components

Every effective technical whitepaper for database platforms should include:

  1. 1
    Executive summary
  2. 2
    Problem definition
  3. 3
    Technical approach
  4. 4
    Architecture diagrams
  5. 5
    Implementation details
  6. 6
    Performance/benchmark data
  7. 7
    Conclusion and next steps

Step 1: The Brief

Before creating your technical whitepaper, document answers to these questions specific to your database platforms product:

Product Questions

  • What specific managed infrastructure capabilities does your product offer?
  • How does your product differ from PlanetScale?
  • What metrics can you share about performance or results?

Persona Questions

Backend Engineers:

  • How does your product address: Scaling complexity?
  • How does your product address: Query performance?

Database Administrators:

  • How does your product address: Operational overhead?
  • How does your product address: Backup and recovery?

Use Case Questions

  • How does your product support database modernization?
  • How does your product support scaling applications?

Step 2: The Draft

With your brief complete, create your technical whitepaper following this structure:

Technical Whitepaper Outline

  1. 1. Executive summary
  2. 2. Problem definition
  3. 3. Technical approach
  4. 4. Architecture diagrams
  5. 5. Implementation details
  6. 6. Performance/benchmark data
  7. 7. Conclusion and next steps

Tips for Database Platforms

TIP Lead with the problem: Scaling complexity resonates with Backend Engineers
TIP Show, don't tell: Include examples of managed infrastructure and auto-scaling
TIP Address objections: Differentiating in a mature market will be top of mind

Common Mistakes to Avoid

When creating a technical whitepaper for database platforms, watch out for these pitfalls:

X Too marketing-focused, not technical enough
X No original insights or data
X Poor structure/hard to navigate
X Missing diagrams and visuals
X Not gated appropriately (or gated when shouldn't be)

Step 3: Production

With your draft complete, focus on these production steps:

Get feedback from someone who matches your target persona
Test messaging claims with real prospects if possible
Ensure design supports (not distracts from) the content
Set up tracking/analytics to measure effectiveness

Recommended Tools

Google Docs Notion Figma for diagrams

Learn From These Companies

Study how these database platforms companies approach their marketing:

Related Guides

Other Guides for Database Platforms

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