Spring Speeds Development

 

For its part, Spring speeds development by more than 50 percent through developer tools and features that make it easy to create new applications that provide a modern user experience across a range of platforms, browsers and personal devices; integrate applications using proven Enterprise Application Integration patterns, including batch processing; access data in a wide range of structured and unstructured formats; and leverage popular social media services and cloud service APIs, VMware said in a press release on the new application platform.

The VMware Cloud Application Platform, featuring the vFabric integrated application services, delivers modern middleware infrastructure to developers, application architects and IT teams as a collection of cloud-scale, integrated services. These services include a lightweight application server, the tc Server, which is an enterprise version of Apache Tomcat optimized for Spring and VMware vSphere and can be instantaneously provisioned to meet the scalability needs of modern applications. For data management services, GemFire speeds application performance and eliminates database bottlenecks by providing real-time access to globally distributed data. The RabbitMQ cloud-ready messaging service facilitates communications between applications inside and outside the data center. The services also include the ERS dynamic load balancer, an enterprise version Apache Web server that ensures optimal performance by distributing and balancing application load. Meanwhile, Hyperic enables proactive application performance management through transparent visibility into modern applications deployed across physical, virtual and cloud environments.

Johnson said the new cloud app platform represents the next step in the evolution of middleware.

However, Tod Nielsen, chief operating officer at VMware, told eWEEK he believes the "big takeaway" from the news of the new app platform is "we're leading the next wave of computing. The old worldview of application servers and middleware was the big, thick Hummer of the industry. But today developers say they need a more nimble and lightweight solution, more like a Prius."

Nielsen acknowledged that VMware has gained substantially from its acquisitions, including SpringSource, Rabbit Technologies, Zimbra and other assets. Indeed, Nielsen told eWEEK that one of the topics he will cover at VMworld is the issue of acquisitions as an "organic accelerant" to VMware's continued growth and maturity as a company.

"We try to focus on the core of the IT and what we can integrate with our existing technology without a ton of additional or extraneous effort," Nielsen said. "We do this versus trying to just buy a revenue stream or buy something that stands on its own." Instead, everything VMware acquires becomes part of the overall VMware offering, he said.

Spring and the VMware Application Platform Services will be available Aug. 31 for download.