IBM's acqusition of Gluecode: it's about more than open source
On May 10, IBM announced what it referred to as a “significant software acquisition” – that of an 18 person company founded less than two years ago! Following so soon after the closure of the $1.1 billion acquisition of Ascential, one could be forgiven for questioning the significance. With the benefit of two days in which to ponder, I can see that IBM has a point – and it’s only indirectly related to open source.
The acquisition of Gluecode adds a lightweight, no-cost Apache-based stack (application server, JSP and servlet container, database and portal framework) to meet the needs of the enterprise (and ISV for that matter) developer community, for whom WebSphere is a hammer to crack the proverbial nut. This was also the motivation for the company’s
agreement with Zend Technologies to create ‘Zend Core for IBM’, designed to make it easier for developers to build PHP applications which integrate with IBM’s Cloudscape and DB2 Universal Database. IBM is now in a position to offer enterprise developers a viable alternative to the likes of
JBoss and
JOnAS, both of which have been gaining traction in enterprise development shops. It’s also one in the eye for the likes of HP and Novell, both of whom have cosied up to JBoss.
IBM also gains a new revenue model – at least as far as the WebSphere brand is concerned: subscription-based support and services. The likely revenue pales into insignificance when compared to the $3.6 billion quarterly software revenues reported in April but it provides IBM with an opportunity to test a subscription-based model with its enterprise customers.
The acquisition also bolsters IBM’s strategy for tackling the SMB segment. Whilst it already has its Express offerings, these are primarily oriented towards the ‘M’. The Gluecode stack has the cost and acquisition attributes i.e. free and downloadable, which are attractive to the ‘S’. Of course, there’s no point being able to download it for free if you can’t use it. Gluecode, as IBM freely admits, requires ‘deep Java skills’, and these are going to be in short supply in the smallest of small businesses. However, a good number of sub-Express-sized companies do possess dedicated IT staff who, with a little paid for support from IBM, could turn their hand to some Java development. Not forgetting of course that IBM’s channel partners can lend a hand too. IBM will, of course, have to be careful to ensure that it does not compromise its WebSphere Application Server – Express revenues.
Whilst this acquisition does give IBM’s PR and marketing machine the opportunity to expound on the company’s open source strategy and commitment to the community, it has more to do with extending the footprint of the WebSphere brand in the enterprise and SMB segments.
