Allaire Accelerates E-Commerce Linux Strategy

Web application platform vendor Allaire Corp. (Nasdaq: ALLR) moved to accelerate its e-commerce strategy this week by striking a strategic partnership with MERANT (Nasdaq: MRNT) to deliver data access and integration applications to its fledgling ColdFusion cross-platform Web application server product for Linux.

Under the terms of the agreement, Allaire will add MERANT’s DataDirect technology to versions of ColdFusion for Linux. According to MERANT, the deal will bring scalable, transaction-based connectivity between ColdFusion and databases such as Microsoft SQL, Oracle and Sybase to developers who work with Allaire e-commerce solutions.

“By leveraging MERANT DataDirect technology, Allaire customers can now link ColdFusion Web applications on Linux to a variety of enterprise data stores, with the scalability and distributed transaction support required in e-business solutions,” commented Michael Consoli, MERANT senior vice president and general manager of DataDirect.

Investing In E-Commerce

Allaire released ColdFusion 4.5 for Linux, featuring Java integration, service-level failover and enhanced XML support for business-to-business e-commerce, in the fall of 1999. Allaire has said that the product, which was designed to be a platform for creating e-commerce and enterprise systems, was one of the first commercial application servers for Linux.

Following Allaire’s acquisitions of Bright Tiger Technologies and Live Software, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company announced a new e-commerce strategy that featured a ColdFusion update. The latest deal with MERANT builds on a foundational investment in e-commerce.

“As Allaire customers move into high-end global 2000 projects, they are demanding the same robust feature set on Linux that they expect with any other Web application development platform,” stated Jack Lull, vice president of development for Allaire.

“MERANT has demonstrated its commitment to support the latest technology features required by our customers such as distributed transactions and a multi-threaded implementation, which are crucial for building high-end, scalable Web applications.”

Corel Gets Some Newlix

In other Linux news, Corel Corp. (Nasdaq: CORL) announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire up to a 30 percent interest in Linux startup Newlix.

The Ottawa, Canada-based Newlix manufactures Omega, a Linux-based networking server software product for small to medium-sized businesses.

“This deal illustrates Corel’s continued commitment to providing a complete end-to-end Linux solution,” said Corel president and CEO Michael Cowpland. “The Omega server software is based on hot Linux technology, and Corel looks forward to working alongside Newlix to develop an integrated and easy-to-use solution.”