BEA Systems
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Enterprise infrastructure software |
| Founded | 1995 in San Jose, California, United States |
| Founder | Bill Coleman, Ed Scott, Alfred Chuang |
| Defunct | April 29, 2008 |
| Fate | Acquired by Oracle Corporation |
| Headquarters | San Jose , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Tuxedo, BEA WebLogic, AquaLogic |
| Parent | Oracle Corporation |
| Website | www |
BEA Systems, Inc. was a company focused on enterprise infrastructure software, ultimately acquired by Oracle Corporation on April 29, 2008.
History
Established in 1995 in San Jose, California by ex-Sun Microsystems employees Bill Coleman, Ed Scott, and Alfred Chuang, BEA expanded to encompass 78 offices globally by the time it was purchased. The company's name was derived from the initials of its founders' first names. Initially, BEA acquired Information Management and Independence Technologies, both prominent resellers of Tuxedo, a distributed transaction management system originally marketed by Novell. Subsequently, BEA obtained ownership of the Tuxedo product itself and grew further through the acquisition of various middleware companies.
In 1998, BEA took over WebLogic, a trailblazer in standards-compliant Java application servers. WebLogic's server significantly influenced Sun Microsystems' J2EE standards and became BEA’s premier WebLogic application server offering.
Between 2002 and 2008, BEA sponsored Team Rahal in motorsport events, notably supporting Buddy Rice’s victory at the 2004 Indianapolis 500.
The year 2005 saw BEA unveil the "Think Liquid" brand identity alongside launching AquaLogic, a comprehensive service-oriented architecture (SOA) software suite. That same year marked BEA’s entry into telecommunications infrastructure through acquiring Swedish software company Incomit. Further acquisitions included Compoze Software (collaboration solutions), M7 (developer tools based on Eclipse), and SolarMetric (persistence engine technologies), all contributing to an enhanced middleware product lineup.
In 2006, BEA broadened its portfolio by acquiring Plumtree Software (enterprise portals), Fuego (business process management), and Flashline (metadata repository technology), which were integrated into the AquaLogic SOA framework.
On October 12, 2007, Oracle Corporation proposed a $6.7 billion acquisition offer for BEA, leading to a significant surge in BEA’s stock value. However, BEA declined the proposal, considering its valuation too low. Eventually, Oracle agreed to purchase BEA for $8.5 billion on January 16, 2008, with shareholder Carl Icahn playing a pivotal role in finalizing the agreement.
Oracle completed the acquisition process on April 29, 2008.
Products
BEA’s primary product categories included:
- Tuxedo, currently known as Oracle Tuxedo – a middleware platform focused on transaction processing
- BEA WebLogic, now Oracle WebLogic Server – an enterprise infrastructure platform based on Java EE
- AquaLogic, presently Oracle Service Bus – a platform supporting service-oriented architecture (SOA)
While originally centered around Tuxedo, BEA gained prominence through its WebLogic suite of products such as WebLogic Server, Workshop, Portal, Integration tools, and JRockit. In 2005, the company introduced AquaLogic to facilitate SOA implementations. Additionally, BEA expanded into telecommunications with the WebLogic Communications Platform—which included WebLogic SIP Server and Network Gatekeeper—acquired via Swedish telecom software provider Incomit. The company also marketed the WebLogic RFID Product Family aimed at RFID technology applications.
AquaLogic
The AquaLogic software suite from BEA was designed to oversee SOA environments and comprised:
- AquaLogic BPM suite: business process management solutions integrating workflow with enterprise application integration capabilities. It featured business process modeling (BPM Designer), application development (BPM Studio), deployment services (BPM Enterprise Server), and real-time business activity monitoring.
- AquaLogic User Interaction: tools for building portals, collaborative communities, and composite applications aligned with service architecture principles—originating from Plumtree Software.
- AquaLogic Enterprise Repository: a metadata management system that enhanced impact analysis, encouraged code reuse, and supported governance within SOA initiatives.
- AquaLogic Service Bus: an enterprise service bus facilitating service communication through routing, transformation, and policy enforcement.
- AquaLogic Service Registry: a UDDI v3-compliant registry equipped with governance features for registering and reusing services.
- AquaLogic Data Services Platform (previously Liquid Data): tools enabling creation and management of data services using XQuery across databases and web services.
- AquaLogic Enterprise Security: security framework providing distributed authentication and detailed access control without requiring changes to existing application code.
- AquaLogic Commerce Services (ALCS): an e-commerce platform integrated with WebLogic Server based on Elastic Path technology; this product was discontinued following Oracle’s acquisition in 2009.
See also
External links
- Articles with short description
- BEA Systems
- Companies based in San Jose, California
- Software companies located in the San Francisco Bay Area
- Customer relationship management software providers
- Software firms founded in 1995
- Oracle acquisitions
- Mergers and acquisitions in 2008
- Initial public offerings in 1997
- Defunct software companies in the United States
- Companies formerly traded on Nasdaq
- Defunct software companies of the United States