IBM, was always committed to open source , first its push in the Linux space than its move to throw open its patents.Now IBM has taken another step in the Open Source direction, purchase of Gluecode Software, an open-source start-up.

Gluecode, based in El Segundo, Calif., sells support and service for an open-source server, called Geronimo, that is used by companies for applications including customer service, electronic commerce Web sites and work-sharing Web sites.

I.B.M. offers its own proprietary server, WebSphere, for business applications. It does not see Gluecode and Geronimo as potential competition in that area, but rather as a way to enter new markets.

WebSphere may be too big and too costly for some customers, I.B.M. says, like departments of large companies or small and medium-size companies with fewer than 1,000 employees.

"This widens our market," said Steven Mills, the senior vice president for software. "Some customers may later move up to WebSphere if they choose to go in that direction. But if they don't, they don't. This is its own business

The Gluecode acquisition can also be seen as a defensive tactic for I.B.M, which ran the risk of ceding the lower end of the business application server market to others, like JBoss, another open-source start-up, which has grown rapidly recently.

"We're very complementary to the strategy that WebSphere has now," said Chet Kapoor, chief executive of Gluecode. "They sell software at the high end, and we have a support and subscription business model for small and medium-sized businesses and departmental projects in big companies."

Source: New York TimesUpdate: Gartner has a research report on the same "Offense Is the Best Defense: IBM Leads Users to Open Source "



Prashanth Rai