Progress Software Snags IONA And Mindreef For SOA

Within one week, Progress Software announced its intention to acquire enterprise service bus (ESB) rival IONA Technologies and completed the acquisition of service-oriented architecture (SOA) testing startup Mindreef. The addition of Mindreef continues Progress' pattern of acquisitions that has broadened the Progress portfolio of best in breed products, extending its coverage to include a new category. The acquisition of IONA is a different matter; it adds to Progress' portfolio a competing product suite with strengths that complement Progress' own products' functionality. Application development professionals who are customers of either IONA or Mindreef will benefit from the backing of a financially stronger company, and those who are Progress customers will have more options to choose from. Prospective new customers will see a more complete product portfolio, albeit one with remaining gaps in SOA service life-cycle management and business process management (BPM).