Spring time for Interface21 and enterprise Java
If the open source market has a sweet spot right now it's enterprise Java.
The customers are discriminating. They understand the value proposition of fine middleware written by top professionals. You can grow a nice company there.
Interface21, the company behind the Spring Framework, wants to be that nice company. Until now it has been mainly a virtual outfit, run out of London by Sydneysider Rod Johnson. But now it's ready to put down roots in Silicon Valley.
After watching Range Rovers being unloaded at a luxury car dealership in Atlanta's tony Buckhead neighborhood, I settled down for breakfast at the Corner Cafe. with Johnson and senior vice president Nelson Choksi.
Johnson described their strategy going forward and it sounded a lot like that of the car dealer.
"It's not about commodization," Johnson said. "It's about relationships, ethical behavior, an honest broker who takes customer needs seriously."
IBM still leads this market. Their numbers are growing rapidly. But there's enough growth so that other companies, like Interface21, can grow smartly just by maintaining their customer relationships.
"We know Spring is being used extensively for building enterprise applications and that's the key. If people are using your product, if you're solving problems, then you have control over your destiny."
Johnson's destiny now is moving from London to Silicon Valley, probably San Mateo, where his core staff can spin these strategic advantages into something substantial.
"Every day applications are growing into strategic solutions that will last 15 years," Johnson said. Banks, insurance companies, and other large users will want an independent software consultant they can trust, and that's what he wants Interface21 to become.
I pointed out that less than two years ago I'd sat down with another entrepreneur, Marc Fleury of JBOSS, and had a similar conversation. Now JBOSS was part of RedHat and Fleury was running a blog.
Both men are Fleury fans. "JBOSS' culture hasn't changed," Choksi said. "There are now hundreds of thousands of applications running off JBOSS." JBOSS went public by being acquired. Interface21 hopes for a different outcome but in business it's the journey that counts, not the destination.
For Interface21 the journey has just begun.