8 minute read
Many organizations continue to run MarkLogic 10, introduced in 2019 and now in its sunset phase. Restricted support begins post–March 2026, making early upgrade planning essential.
This end-of-life stage brings limited vendor support and security updates, increasing both the risks and costs of staying on an outdated platform
The question for executives and IT leaders is: why upgrade to MarkLogic 11 or 12 now? The answer lies in substantial performance gains and lower total cost of ownership (TCO) that translate into real business benefits.
Upgrading is not just a technical version bump; it’s a strategic business move. MarkLogic 11 and 12 introduce powerful new capabilities that drive better performance, agility, and ROI for your data initiatives. At the same time, they help future-proof your data platform for emerging needs like AI and semantic search.
In this blog, we’ll explore how a MarkLogic upgrade delivers performance improvements, reduces ongoing costs, and modernizes your enterprise data platform.
We’ll also discuss how partnering with a MarkLogic expert like Datavid can ensure a smooth, low-risk transition – turning your upgrade into a positive ROI project rather than a headache.
Performance gains with MarkLogic 11/12
One of the most compelling reasons to move beyond MarkLogic 10 is the significant performance improvements available in MarkLogic 11 and 12. These newer versions were built to meet modern demands for speed, scalability, and real-time analytics. Key MarkLogic 11 benefits and MarkLogic 12 features that boost performance include:
- Dynamic Elastic Scaling: MarkLogic 12 introduces Dynamic Hosts, which can automatically spin up additional processing (e-node) capacity when loads get heavy.
This dynamic scaling offers improved load balancing and enhanced performance under peak workloads, eliminating the need for manual intervention.
For your business, this means consistent application responsiveness, even as data volumes and user queries grow, all while efficiently utilising infrastructure.
- Faster Queries with Virtual Views: In MarkLogic 12, the new Virtual Views feature enables much faster query performance for analytics and reports, without needing to re-index your database.
Complex cross-database queries that previously required time-consuming reindexing can now be configured on the fly, thereby accelerating data insights. This directly translates to quicker decision-making and a more agile analytics capability for the business.
- Improved Search and Query Optimizations: Both MarkLogic 11 and 12 refine the core database engine for speed. For example, MarkLogic 12 adds a new search scoring algorithm called BM25 (replacing the older TF-IDF), which is more optimal for handling varied document sizes.
This translates to more efficient, relevant search results for users. In practice, users find what they need faster with semantic search, with MarkLogic boosting productivity and the user experience.
- Optics and Multi-Model Performance: MarkLogic’s Optics layer (which enables SQL-like queries over JSON, XML, and RDF data) has been dramatically improved since version 10. MarkLogic 11 introduced the ability to update data via Optics (not just read), and MarkLogic 12’s Virtual Views further turbocharge query speed.
The result is a unified data hub that can query across silos with performance that is “more than adequate for integration purposes”.
Instead of moving data between separate relational, document, and graph databases (and suffering latency), you can query disparate data in place, in the most efficient way possible. This multi-model performance gain means applications run faster and engineers spend less time building slow ETL pipelines.
- AI and Semantic Enhancements: MarkLogic 12 is AI-ready with features like integrated vector search and Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) support.
These aren’t just flashy add-ons; they enable high-speed semantic queries and AI-driven operations natively in the database. For example, MarkLogic 12’s vector search capability allows similar searches across extensive content collections at scale.
By having this power in-platform, you avoid bolting on a separate vector search engine, reducing complexity and latency.
The net effect is faster development of AI applications (since MarkLogic can handle embeddings and knowledge graph queries internally) and faster end-user responses in AI-powered features.
In short, a MarkLogic upgrade to 11 or 12 delivers performance gains at multiple levels from query execution and search relevance to scalability under load.
Applications run faster, semantic search is more powerful, and your data platform can handle more throughput without costly hardware overprovisioning.
If performance bottlenecks or scalability limits have been holding back your business, MarkLogic 11/12 provides a path to overcome them.
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MarkLogic as a Knowledge Integrator
MarkLogic has matured into much more than a multi-model database. With versions 11 and 12, it operates as a true Knowledge Integrator - a platform that connects and contextualizes data across silos.
This is a clear step beyond traditional data warehouses, which primarily focus on structured, relational data and often miss the deeper relationships between diverse information sets.
By combining document, graph, relational, and semantic models, MarkLogic enables unified access and insight. It also acts as a hub for AI-driven capabilities like classification, entity extraction, and semantic enrichment all while maintaining the security and governance standards many standalone AI systems lack.
In this light, MarkLogic 11 and 12 are not just version upgrades. They mark the platform’s evolution into a full-fledged data integration and intelligence layer for modern enterprises.
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TCO Benefits of Upgrading
Many organizations still operate in silos, isolated data sources paired with custom-built applications. As these silos multiply, the burden of integrating them grows exponentially.
Disconnected systems and ad hoc integration can lead to spiraling costs and technical debt.
Beyond raw performance, upgrading to MarkLogic 11 or 12 can significantly lower the total cost of ownership for your data platform.
This might sound counterintuitive if you focus only on license costs on the surface, but MarkLogic’s enterprise license may appear “expensive when seen as a single product”.
However, when viewed as a unified integration platform, MarkLogic quickly demonstrates its value by reducing costs across various IT and business operations.
Here are the top ways a MarkLogic upgrade drives TCO reduction and ROI:
- Avoiding End-of-Life Costs: With MarkLogic 10 support winding down, organizations that don’t upgrade face rising costs. These include the expense of extended support contracts or the risk of unpatched security vulnerabilities (which can lead to expensive breaches or compliance fines).
Upgrading eliminates these legacy risks. You receive a fully supported platform with regular patches and improvements, ensuring compliance and security without the need for expensive firefighting.
In essence, you are avoiding the hidden costs of technical debt and obsolete technology by moving to a supported, modern version.
- Consolidation of Systems (Infrastructure Savings): MarkLogic 11/12 is a multi-model, multi-purpose data platform. It can handle what previously required multiple systems – a document store, a relational DB, a semantic triple store, a search engine, even some data warehouse tasks.
By upgrading and leveraging new MarkLogic features, you might retire auxiliary systems and their associated licenses and infrastructure.
MarkLogic 12 is rated competitively with specialized products in their silos (graphs, vectors, JSON, relational) while being “far more versatile... when integration is factored in”.
Fewer systems to manage means lower infrastructure and maintenance costs, directly lowering TCO.
- Lower Maintenance and Development Effort: Modern MarkLogic features lead to lower ongoing maintenance costs.
For example, MarkLogic’s built-in semantic AI capabilities (like GraphQL endpoints for your data and out-of-the-box Graph RAG in MarkLogic 12) reduce the need for custom code and complex middleware.
Your developers can deliver functionality faster using MarkLogic’s out-of-the-box tools rather than building things from scratch or glueing together multiple products.
Less code to write and maintain means lower labour costs and fewer bugs – a major TCO win. Additionally, routine admin tasks (backups, scaling, etc.) are easier with updated tooling in ML11/12, freeing up your DBAs for more value-added work.
- Scalability without Massive Costs: Historically, scaling a database for peak loads meant buying expensive hardware to handle the worst-case scenario.
MarkLogic 12’s dynamic scaling changes that equation – you can scale out processing power on demand, especially in cloud environments, and scale back down when not needed.
This elasticity means you pay only for the performance you need, when you need it, optimizing IT costs.
Furthermore, MarkLogic 11 and 12 have improved efficiency, allowing you to handle more data and users on the same hardware compared to older versions.
The ability to “quickly scale in the face of heavy loads” is cited as a core value of MarkLogic as an integration platform. In business terms, this means your solution can scale with demand without incurring a linear increase in cost.
- Improved Uptime and Risk Reduction: Upgrading can also save money by reducing downtime risk.
Each new MarkLogic release brings stability and security improvements. By moving to ML11/12, you’re less likely to encounter critical failures, and if you do, Progress will support you.
Avoiding even a single major outage or data loss incident can justify the upgrade when you consider the potential financial impact of downtime.
Likewise, staying current helps maintain regulatory compliance (avoiding fines) and ensures compatibility with modern IT ecosystems, preventing costly integration issues.
- Opportunity Cost of New Features: While not a “cost” on the balance sheet, missing out on new features has an opportunity cost.
MarkLogic 11 and 12 enable capabilities such as AI integration, advanced analytics, and semantic search, which can unlock new revenue streams or efficiency gains.
By upgrading, you position your organization to capitalize on these opportunities (e.g., delivering smarter products with AI, gaining insights faster with integrated analytics).
In contrast, staying on ML10 may mean foregoing these benefits or incurring expenses for third-party tools to achieve them. In effect, upgrading provides a better return on investment (ROI) by both cutting costs and enabling new business value.
In summary, the business case for a MarkLogic upgrade is strong: the lower total cost of ownership MarkLogic 12 offers comes from cutting out other tools, reducing manual effort, and avoiding the spiraling costs of legacy tech.
By investing in the upgrade now, you set the stage for long-term savings and capabilities that far outweigh the upfront effort.
Want to quantify the impact on your business?
Use our MarkLogic 10 Upgrade Self-Assessment to know where you stand before upgrading to 11/12
Why Datavid
Upgrading to MarkLogic 11 or 12 is a smart move, but executing it well takes experience. That’s where Datavid comes in. As a certified Progress MarkLogic partner and trusted modernization specialist, we deliver fast, low-risk upgrades that align with your business goals.
Proven Methodology & Automation
Our MarkLogic Consulting services utilize tested upgrade frameworks and automation tools to manage code migration, data conversion, and performance optimization. This ensures consistency, speed, and fewer surprises.
Fast, Low-Risk Delivery
Downtime is never an option. Our phased upgrade plans use parallel environments and rollback safety nets to minimize disruption and we address common upgrade myths before they become blockers.
Recognized MarkLogic Expertise
As Progress MarkLogic EMEA Partner of the Year (2024, 2025), we bring deep product knowledge and hands-on experience. Our team includes 60+ certified consultants, 18+ ex-MarkLogic engineers, and a strong delivery record.
Business-Focused Outcomes
We focus more than just migrating data. From enabling AI-ready capabilities to unlocking semantic search and ROI-driven insights, we ensure your upgrade delivers long-term value.
By choosing Datavid, you’re partnering with a team that delivers where others stall - turning complex upgrades into strategic wins.
Conclusion
MarkLogic 10 may still be running, but the cost of standing still is rising. With MarkLogic 11 and 12, the performance, scalability, and TCO benefits are too strong to overlook.
Upgrading now helps you reduce risk, lower operational overhead, and prepare your platform for the growing demands of AI and analytics. It is more than a version of change. It is a chance to unlock lasting business value.
With Datavid’s support, the upgrade becomes a smooth and strategic transition. As the original draft puts it, “do yourself a favor and upgrade. You’ll be glad you did.”
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