BEA & Sybase Tap the Source

What is it with open-source projects at the moment? It seems as if everyone and his wife is using the open-source community in an effort to open up a competitive edge.

The latest vendors to leap into the open-source arena are BEA Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: BEAS) and Sybase Inc., which have teamed up with the Eclipse Foundation (see BEA Joins Eclipse and Sybase Joins Eclipse).

Although it describes itself as a "kind of universal tool platform," Eclipse is working on some pretty serious stuff: development programs to create applications for the likes of Java, C++, Enterprise Java Beans, and even Websites.

Both BEA and Sybase have become Eclipse board members and strategic developers, and BEA is merging its own open-source project, AspectWerkz, with Eclipses AspectJ project. Speaking on a conference call to discuss the initiative, Bill Roth, BEA’s vice president of product marketing, promised that the next generation of the company’s WebLogic workshop product will support the Eclipse framework.

So, why is this type of initiative so important for BEA? The firm’s WebLogic Enterprise platform is designed to support users’ Web services -- complex, Internet-based systems that deal with business processes ranging from online banking to human resources. Other members of the WebLogic family are geared towards developing portals for user access and simplifying application deployment.