Leave it to Zend to kick Java-loving Sun Microsystems when it's down.
PHP has become one of the hottest programming languages in technology, and the engine behind the little scripting language that could is Zend Technologies. Back in 2000 Zend released its Zend Framework to facilitate PHP development, and it's now taking this Java-bashing crusade a step further with the release of its new Zend Server, as The Register reports.
As Dave Rosenberg notes over on CNET's Software Interrupted blog, Zend Technologies is making available its Zend Server on Tuesday as both a commercial product and one free to the community for download. Why? Because such a move should further facilitate PHP adoption and give Zend a prime location to profit from that adoption.
Smart strategy. The new Zend Server can be easily integrated into any bundle, runs native to the operating system, and offers significant performance and management features. With the community version, the company says developers and admins can set up a complete PHP environment in minutes.
This is especially interesting for two reasons:
- With the general availability of Zend Server, the company is obviously signaling that it's serious about run-time and extending its products beyond tools. In other words, it wants to make money. Lots of it. It's smart enough to know that there is a huge market opportunity to support PHP application development with a full production environment--from tools to run-time. And with both the company and a community of users supporting it, Zend can help PHP dominate in Web development.
- The company is going to use the freeware model to accelerate adoption and then convert some of those users to paying customers and provide a foundation of access and support for which the open-source software model has blazed the trail. This model has worked for Red Hat, Zimbra, and others, and I suspect it will work for Zend, too.
This wraps up a really amazing decade for Zend Technologies and its recently appointed CEO, Andi Gutmans. And with big companies like Adobe Systems, Google, IBM and Microsoft using PHP or rumored to nearing full support for it, the next decade should be equally as productive.
In other words, life just became a wee bit harder for Sun. Just what it needed.
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I just received an e-mail from Sun Microsystems' marketing department, and I really like the message:
Very clear, and something Sun is particularly well-suited to deliver. The question for me is, what comes next? Right now its message mostly centers around MySQL, and that's great. But there's more to building out a Web presence than the database.
Sure, Sun is building out its cloud strategy, adding Q-layer to its arsenal Wednesday, but the "Open Web" idea is both bigger and smaller than cloud computing.
Would a Zend acquisition make sense, to bring in strong PHP expertise to complement Sun's Java solutions? Or would it make sense to buy a company like SpringSource to bridge the gap between Java-based applications for the enterprise and the Web?
I'm not sure, but I think that Sun's message should resonate well. How it rounds out the message over time is perhaps less important than making sure it gets it right in the beginning. For me, "Open Web" is a great start.
Sometimes social networks are the first to know. In this case, LinkedIn had a big batch of people-related news stories to offer, one of which - Mark de Visser's move to Sonatype to become its new CEO - is out in front of the press release.
Mark is still listed as Zend's chief marketing officer as of 7:16 AM Pacific Time, but LinkedIn knows the truth: de Visser has accepted the role of CEO at Sonatype, the company helping to drive the Apache Maven project. The formal announcement is expected shortly.
Other news that LinkedIn's update service told me today?
- Justin Steinman, erstwhile marketing director for Novell's open-source business, just got an upgrade to vice president, Solution and Product Marketing at Novell;
- Dion Cornett, who had been vice president of Sales at Red Hat, has finally updated his profile to reflect the job he's been doing at Red Hat for the past six months, vice president of Strategic Alliances;
- Joanne Rohde, formerly executive vice president of Worldwide Operations at Red Hat left the company last year, but has finally given an indication of what she's up to: politics (she's working on the North Carolina campaign to unseat Elizabeth Dole) and strategic advisory services. Come on, Joanne, the Doles have serious health issues - give them a break! (-: Seriously, I think very highly of Rohde - if you need some guidance through the economic turmoil, she'd be a great resource.
That's the news today. It will be interesting to see if we start to see churn as the economy slides.
I just saw the news that Zend has raised $7 million more, in its fifth (Series E) round of funding. Zend last raised $20 million in August 2006. Zend has raised so much money that it must be bought for a bazillion dollars for its investors to get a good return from it.
There are good reasons to raise money heading into a downturn: The justification noted in the press release is to use the funds "as needed." That sounds like "in case things go awry during a recessionary period." This is smart.
One of two things must have happened. Either Zend is struggling and this was a way to give it some runway, or Zend is doing fine but the new investor gave such a rich, (relatively) non-dilutive valuation that Zend couldn't help but take the money. I'm guessing the latter.
Even so, it's worrisome that Zend has needed to raise as much cash as it has. Yes, MySQL raised a ton of cash and saw a massive exit for its investors. But most exits - open source or not - will not see $1 billion for under $100 million in sales. It's best to raise as little money as possible, if you can.
Any comment from Zend?
TechCrunch's Erick Schonfeld notes that Zend's recent layoff of 25 percent of its R&D team could be a prelude to an acquisition. Schonfeld suggests Oracle and Microsoft as potential suitors, but I think Sean Michael Kerner's speculation (IBM) rings true.
Regardless, Zend would be a great prize. I'm not privy to the company's financial information but don't need to be to believe that Zend's position vis-a-vis PHP (the primary "P" in the LAMP stack) makes it a prime target. It's surprising that no one has picked it up by now.
My sources tell me that Oracle was very close to purchasing Zend back in 2006, but that the two sides were far apart on valuation. With open-source software companies going for a premium these days, Zend's price will have only gone up since 2006.
Who do you think is most likely to buy Zend?
I wouldn't have believed it, but Matthew Aslett has the numbers to prove it:
Red Hat is a consolidating force in the open-source world, after all.
One trend that emerged very quickly is how much of a driving force... Red Hat has been [a driving force in] acquiring both open source and proprietary vendors.
There have been 72 mergers and acquisitions involving an open source software acquirer or target (or both) according to [The 451 Group's] figures.
... Read more
For today's 21st installment in the Open Source CEO Series, I decided to talk with the head of Zend Technologies, Harold Goldberg. PHP adoption has exploded - how does a company build a business around that adoption? In fact, today Zend also announced the availability of Zend Framework 1.0, with a vibrant development and documentation community surrounding it.
Harold joined Zend with an enviable pedigree in enterprise software. As I've said before, that can be a blessing and a curse. In Harold's case, it seems to have been a blessing. Let's hear why.
Name, position, and company of executive Harold Goldberg, CEO, Zend Technologies.
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