Red Hat applies open source to enterprise apps

Red Hat has launched Content Management System (CMS) and Enterprise Portal Server, two Java-based applications, as part of its push to offer a complete open source infrastructure for enterprise applications.

CMS is a workflow engine that manages content for internet, intranet and extranet usage. The portal server includes personalised and group-based information delivery, relying on servlets to access new and existing applications.

Richard Li, director of enterprise applications at Red Hat, said: "We're taking our successful open source model that has worked with our Red Hat Enterprise Linux family of solutions and applying this to enterprise applications."

The software can be downloaded for free. Maintenance-only support of the whole enterprise environment costs $16,000 (£10,300) per annum. With full technical support this rises to $48,000.

The applications complement other software provided in addition to Red Hat Linux Advanced Server (AS), such as Apache web server, Tomcat server applications (servlets) engine, PostgreSQL database and Java component technology from Sun's Jakarta project.

"Functionally the two products are pretty reasonable so, in terms of 'good-enough computing', it's an interesting value proposition in these times when there is little money around," said James Governor, principal analyst at RedMonk.

Red Hat gained the two software products when it acquired Ars Digita in February last year, and has since been integrating them and building up engineering team support.

There are about 30 users, some gained through the acquisition. In Europe these include French supermarket chain Carrefour and German Deutsche Post.