Atipa Acquires Company That Leads OpenNMS.org

Atipa Corporation announced today that it has acquired the company that created OpenNMS.org, the open source project developing next-generation network and system management software being readied for release in early 2001. The OpenNMS management team joins Atipa to lead a subsidiary that will provide comprehensive professional services and support to enterprises that deploy the OpenNMS software. The acquisition places Atipa at the forefront of a new and unique enterprise technology designed to revolutionize network management and capture an explosive new market opportunity.

Atipa, a leading provider of end-to-end Linux and open source solutions, will also utilize the acquisition to expand its line of open source products and services, its middleprise and enterprise customer base, and its ties to the open source community. The acquisition adds world-class network management services to Atipa's family of open source enterprise solutions while elevating Atipa's profile as a leading open source vendor.

The company acquired by Atipa, currently named "PlatformWorks", was the corporate entity originally created by the founders of OpenNMS to fund and manage the software project. OpenNMS has licensed the next-generation software, named "Bluebird", under the GNU General Public License (GPL), the existing open source license that ensures continued open source development of the software while preventing it from being patented for proprietary purposes.

"The OpenNMS development platform is creating an open source product that will eventually transform the enterprise management marketplace," said Jeffrey Keenan, Chairman and CEO of Atipa. "Unlike today's aging technologies, OpenNMS is a business solution designed specifically to meet the comprehensive network and system management requirements of the Internet economy. As OpenNMS captures market share, the leaders and innovators of this technology who have joined Atipa will build and brand Atipa's support services as the industry standard."

The OpenNMS Team. OpenNMS has assembled a talented core team of 10 developers, architects, and network management specialists for the project. The team brings to Atipa a passion for the project and years of experience in distributed systems and network management application development. "Some of our core team are alums from IBM /Tivoli and HP--they've seen not only how the frameworks were built, but also how counter-productive the proprietary model can be in keeping the tools up-to-date and responsive to the needs of the marketplace. Open source assures not only a high-quality product, but unequaled freedoms in the development environment," said Steve Giles, founder of OpenNMS and now President of the new Atipa subsidiary.

"With a participating community that now numbers over 2,500 members, OpenNMS.org has formed relationships with a Who's Who of top professionals in network management, many from Fortune 1000 companies. During that time, the management team has been building mindshare in the community with a breakout technology that will respond to their escalating demands for new functionalities. There is a vast, pent-up demand for a scalable, next-generation solution with the advantages inherent to open source. We are now nearing completion of that solution." Giles, a 10-year veteran of Hewlett Packard, left in 1992 to build Onion Peel Software, a network management software and services company. After several years, Giles sold this venture and then left to found OpenNMS.

Shane O'Donnell is the Project Leader for OpenNMS.org. O'Donnell was previously the principal network management strategist and architect for the State Farm Insurance network, one of the world's largest private networks. A long-time veteran of the open source movement, O'Donnell presents regularly on the scalability of network management technologies, as well as tools, processes and procedures, and "best practices" for deploying enterprise management solutions. He will be presenting at the upcoming LinuxWorldExpo in Frankfurt, Germany in a session entitled "Open Source Tools in Network Management: Waking a Sleeping Giant". O'Donnell has also served as an adjunct instructor for Illinois State University, where he received a Master's in Applied Computer Science.

The Open Source Competitive Advantage. Survey research shows that network and system management professionals, like many other technology workers, are struggling to meet the twin challenges of accelerating technology and extreme complexity in their industry. Proprietary software is increasingly failing to meet these challenges, falling behind the pace of technological change and lacking the functionality and adaptability necessary to create competitive advantages for the enterprise.

In contrast, open source development models like OpenNMS.org are designed specifically to overcome these challenges. The open source advantage--Speed, Price, Customizability, and Technology--is built into products like Bluebird, creating new competitive requirements that are nearly impossible to meet for traditional, proprietary products.