Spring (company)
| Company type | Private (before acquisition) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software |
| Predecessor | Interface21 |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Founder | Rod Johnson |
| Fate | Acquired by VMware in August 2009 |
| Headquarters | United States |
| Products | Spring Framework, TC Server, DM Server, vFabric Application Suite |
| Parent | VMware (from August 2009) |
Spring—initially known as SpringSource—was a software enterprise established by Rod Johnson, the original developer of the Spring Framework, an open-source framework designed for enterprise Java applications. In August 2009, VMware acquired Spring for $420 million.
History
The company began in 2004 under the name Interface21 and underwent rebranding to SpringSource in 2007 to better reflect its association with the Spring Framework. The majority of the Spring framework contributors became full-time staff members, and eventually, the organization shortened its name to simply Spring.
Spring grew its capabilities through strategic acquisitions: Covalent Technologies in January 2008, a key player in Apache Tomcat development; G2One in November 2008, recognized for contributions to Apache Groovy and Grails; Hyperic in May 2009, which specialized in Java application monitoring solutions; and Cloud Foundry, a Platform as a Service provider, acquired in August 2009.
These additions allowed Spring to extend its product range beyond just application frameworks to comprehensively support the entire lifecycle of enterprise Java applications—covering development, deployment, and operational management. SpringSource introduced two commercial server offerings aimed at Spring developers: TC Server—a commercial iteration of Tomcat integrated with Hyperic’s management tools—and DM Server, an OSGi-based server that did not achieve commercial success and was subsequently contributed to the Eclipse Foundation as the Virgo project. Both server products were accompanied by various levels of customer support.
Acquisition by VMware
In August 2009, VMware purchased SpringSource for $420 million, maintaining it as an independent division. The company’s commercial software was rebranded under the vFabric Application Suite. VMware further expanded this suite by acquiring RabbitMQ (an open-source AMQP messaging broker), Redis (a noSQL key-value database), and Gemstone, integrating all but Redis into the vFabric portfolio.
By April 2013, VMware and its parent company, EMC Corporation, partnered with GE to create a joint venture named Pivotal Software. This venture absorbed all VMware application products, including Spring. VMware later reacquired Pivotal in 2019 and incorporated it into its Tanzu application suite.
In May 2013, VMware divested the Gemstone database products to GemTalk Systems. Additionally, Pivotal ceased sponsorship of Groovy/Grails projects in March 2015.