Software AG snaps up Terracotta to secure in-memory portfolio

Software AG has agreed a deal to buy Java in-memory specialist Terracotta in a bid to compete with SAP and others in cloud and analysis operations.

The company intends to integrate Terracotta's platform into its own offering to speed up data processing and provides new platform-as-a-service options.

Terracotta's technology allows much faster data processing of cached data and is popular with in-memory developers.

"The integration of Terracotta's technology with our product portfolio is a major step in ensuring that our customers can fully benefit from the convergence of cloud computing, the mobile web, complex event processing and real-time, multi-party collaboration through unprecedented levels of performance and scalability," said Software AG chief technical officer Wolfram Jost.

"Software AG is also committed to fully supporting Terracotta's open source communities in further developing this next-generation in-memory technology."

Terracotta's systems can download and process up to 1TB of in-memory data, and can run services up to 1,000 times faster than those using a real-time connection to a datacentre for updates, the firm said.

Other companies are also making in-memory a key element of their strategies, according to James Governor, senior analyst at Redmonk.

"In-memory is scorching hot right now. Software AG's German competitor SAP is all about in-memory databases in the shape of its HANA architecture," he said.

"But while HANA is about analytics, Terracotta is all about home-grown applications and scaling code."

SAP has been making a major play for the in-memory market, telling V3.co.uk that the technology is key to the future of business analytics. The company has also linked up with HP to sell in-memory systems using its technology.

Meanwhile, analysts have warned that Software AG has been positioning itself against SAP with a series of acquisitions, such as business process modelling company IDS Scheer.

"The combination of Software AG and Terracotta will provide enormous value to customers of both companies through a comprehensive software stack that supports the level of performance and scale required in private and public cloud infrastructures," said Amit Pandey, chief executive at Terracotta.

"Terracotta and Software AG are committed to further investment in our technologies and preserving the vibrant open source communities of Ehcache and Quartz."