SpringSource buys UK cloud-messaging firm
VMware division SpringSource plans to integrate an open-source messaging system from UK-based Rabbit Technologies into the Spring Framework, its application framework for Java and .Net.
The move, which follows SpringSource's acquisition of Rabbit on Tuesday, will see SpringSource adding the RabbitMQ open messaging system to its framework for building and managing enterprise applications.
RabbitMQ is based on the Advanced Message Queuing Protocol (AMQP) standard and is designed to improve the ability of applications to communicate with each other and with data stores or services.
The addition of a messaging system is particularly important as companies move their applications on to public cloud infrastructures, or run applications on a combination of in-house and remote systems, according to SpringSource.
"While messaging has always been a key infrastructure element used in the creation of enterprise applications, cloud applications require a fundamentally different messaging infrastructure," said the VMware division's general manager Rod Johnson in a statement.
SpringSource said the acquisition made sense in part because a number of its enterprise customers have already adopted RabbitMQ for their applications.
The company will focus on integrating AMQP into the Spring Framework, making it as easy as possible for developers to build software that uses RabbitMQ.
RabbitMQ is released under the open-source Mozilla Public Licence and has been implemented on a number of platforms besides Java, including .Net, PHP and Ruby.
SpringSource, which was acquired by VMware last year, said it will keep the messaging system open source and continue to support the RabbitMQ developer community.
Besides the RabbitMQ technology, the acquisition will see the software's main contributors join SpringSource's staff, the company said. SpringSource said it already employs some of the main developers for open-source projects such as Apache Tomcat, Apache HTTP Server, Hyperic, Groovy and Grails.