Red Hat Middleware: Making Progress, but could do better

Abstract

Red Hat acquired open source middleware technology provider JBoss in early 2006 but did not manage to build momentum behind it until 2008. It has turned its subsidiary from a provider of simple, bare-bones Java application server technology into an enterprise middleware platform provider. It needs to carefully manage this change of identity and end market while fending off competition from upstarts supporting Spring, Ruby and PHP technologies, among others. It is doing so with a new ' open choice' strategy that provides developers with a wider choice of runtime servers and development technologies. Its middleware product portfolio also needs to be better integrated and ported to the latest version (version 5) of JBoss Application Server (JAS), the strong design of which underpins the ' open choice' strategy.

Table of Contents

• Executive summary
• The Ovum view
• SWOT analysis
• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Opportunities
• Threats
• Getting JBoss up to speed
• A difficult start
• Expensive expansion into middleware: 2006
• New business model and packaging: 2007
• JBoss finally bounces back: 2008
• A need for growth and improved marketing
• Still a small part of Red Hat
• In need of a better articulated strategy
• Making JBoss a strategic partner
• Next-generation open source alternative
• For enterprise customers
• For partners
• Initiatives to drive partners and customers forward faster
• Runtime strategy
• Broad offering
• Multi-level ongoing efforts
• Focus on good design
• Application server
• A delayed JAS 5
• A redesigned kernel
• From breaking down JEE to stepping beyond it: the ' open choice' strategy
• Application platforms
• JEAP: the foundation
• Lightweight, ' open choice' alternatives
• JCP: the telco specialist
• Integration platforms
• JEPP: from new standards to new design
• JESP: an old ambition gaining momentum
• Improving the approach to SOA governance
• M/JDSP: on its way to open source
• Development strategy
• Emulating Microsoft
• Developer ecosystem
• Development framework
• Reaching out to a wider community of developers
• Strengthening the toolset
• The new JBoss Developer Studio
• Wide application support
• Not a big revenue generator
• Between and beyond developers