Plumtree Software

Plumtree Software was an American enterprise software company founded in 1996 by product managers and engineers from Oracle and Informix, with early funding from Sequoia Capital. The company became one of the early specialists in enterprise portal software, adapting the directory-and-personalization ideas associated with consumer web portals such as Yahoo! to large organizations. Its principal product, the Plumtree Corporate Portal, initially provided a directory for indexing and organizing information from file systems, websites, document repositories, databases, and groupware systems. The product was designed to give employees a unified point of access to dispersed enterprise information. Plumtree subsequently expanded the portal with modular services known as portlets, which the company initially called gadgets. These components allowed users to personalize portal pages by selecting the services, applications, and information sources they needed. In 2000, the company added community capabilities that enabled teams, business units, customers, and partners to use portal pages as collaborative workspaces or service centers. A major part of Plumtree's technical identity was its emphasis on what it called radical openness. Rather than requiring all portal components to use one programming language, application server, or operating system, Plumtree redesigned its architecture around Internet protocols and HTTP-based communication. This allowed components to run remotely and to be developed in different languages and environments, including Java and Microsoft .NET. The approach also isolated failures more effectively than architectures in which every portlet ran locally inside the same application server. To address the performance demands created by distributed HTTP communication, Plumtree developed a parallel engine intended to manage large numbers of connections and maintain portal responsiveness as more services were integrated. The company broadened its platform during the early 2000s. It introduced a UNIX version of its portal in 2001, extending the product beyond its original Windows orientation. It also expanded support for remote indexing, federated search, authentication, user profiling, and other Web services. In 2003, Plumtree released an Enterprise Development Kit designed to help Java and .NET developers create interoperable Web services for the portal environment. Plumtree also pursued a broader enterprise software strategy known as the Enterprise Web. Through acquisitions and internal development, it added search, Web content management, forms, data publishing, and collaboration capabilities. These technologies were eventually packaged as Plumtree Collaboration Server, Plumtree Content Server, Plumtree Search Server, and Plumtree Studio Server. The strategy sought to treat an organization's informational sites and Web applications as parts of a common environment rather than as isolated systems. Contemporary accounts also noted implementation limitations, including deployments that could be affected by heavy client-side JavaScript requirements. Plumtree completed an initial public offering on Nasdaq in June 2002 under the symbol PLUM, raising $42.5 million. Its independent operation ended when BEA Systems acquired the company on October 20, 2005. Plumtree products were subsequently marketed within BEA's AquaLogic portfolio. Oracle acquired BEA in 2008, after which the former Plumtree portal technology became part of Oracle's enterprise Web and portal product line. Plumtree therefore remains historically significant as an early enterprise-portal brand, although it no longer operates as an independent company.

Plumtree Software emerged in 1996 from a group of product managers and engineers associated with Oracle and Informix. Backed by Sequoia Capital, it focused on applying the rapidly developing Web portal model to enterprise computing. At a time when consumer portals were primarily used to organize public Web content, Plumtree argued that organizations needed comparable systems for navigating internal documents, applications, databases, file systems, and collaboration resources. The Plumtree Corporate Portal began as a directory and indexing system. It aggregated information from heterogeneous repositories and presented it through a common enterprise interface. The company then developed personalization features based on modular services. These services, initially called gadgets and later commonly described as portlets, could be assembled by users on their own portal pages. In 2000, Plumtree added community functionality, allowing groups to create shared workspaces, resource centers, and service-oriented pages for employees, customers, and partners. Plumtree's architecture evolved in response to the limitations of locally hosted portal components. A portal that required every component to run on the same application server and use the same language was difficult to deploy in large organizations, which typically operated mixed Java, Microsoft, database, and legacy environments. Plumtree therefore adopted HTTP and other Internet protocols for communication between the portal and remote services. The company described this design philosophy as radical openness. Services could be hosted on different machines, implemented in different languages, and connected to the portal without requiring a single application-server standard. The distributed architecture introduced performance and reliability challenges. Plumtree responded by developing a parallel engine intended to handle high-volume HTTP communication efficiently. The design also reduced the impact of individual component failures by separating remote services from the core portal process. In 2001, Plumtree released a UNIX-oriented version of its portal with Java interfaces and a Java user interface, while retaining compatibility with services created for the Windows version. During 2001 and 2002, Plumtree expanded beyond a single portal product. It acquired or incorporated technologies for search, Web content management, forms, and data publishing, while also developing collaboration capabilities. These technologies were integrated into a wider set of products, including Collaboration Server, Content Server, Search Server, and Studio Server. Plumtree promoted the resulting strategy as the Enterprise Web: a unified environment for managing enterprise sites, applications, information, and services. The company continued to emphasize interoperability. Its Web Services Architecture supported remote indexing, federated search, authentication, user profiling, and related functions across different repositories and development environments. In 2003, Plumtree released the Enterprise Development Kit to help Java and .NET developers build services that could interoperate within the portal framework. Plumtree went public on Nasdaq on June 4, 2002, using the ticker PLUM and raising $42.5 million. Its independence ended on October 20, 2005, when BEA Systems acquired the company. BEA rebranded the products within its AquaLogic family. Oracle's acquisition of BEA in 2008 transferred the technology to Oracle, where the former Plumtree portal product continued as part of Oracle's enterprise Web and portal product line. The Plumtree name is now primarily of historical importance, associated with the early development of enterprise portals and cross-platform enterprise Web integration.

• 2008

  Technology transferred to Oracle

  [1]Plumtree Softwareen.wikipedia.org

  Oracle acquired BEA Systems and subsequently integrated the former Plumtree technology into its enterprise Web and portal portfolio.

• 2005

  Acquired by BEA Systems

  [1]Plumtree Softwareen.wikipedia.org

  BEA Systems acquired Plumtree on October 20, 2005.

• 2003

  Enterprise Development Kit released

  [1]Plumtree Softwareen.wikipedia.org

  The Enterprise Development Kit supported interoperable Web-service development across Java and .NET environments.

• 2002

  Initial public offering

  [1]Plumtree Softwareen.wikipedia.org

  Plumtree began trading on Nasdaq under PLUM and raised $42.5 million.

• 2001

  UNIX portal released and product scope expanded

  [1]Plumtree Softwareen.wikipedia.org

  Plumtree released a UNIX version of its portal and expanded into search, content management, forms, data publishing, and collaboration technologies.

• 2000

  Communities and HTTP-based architecture added

  [1]Plumtree Softwareen.wikipedia.org

  The platform gained community workspaces, while its architecture was redesigned to connect distributed services through HTTP and Internet protocols.

• 1999

  Portlet-based personalization introduced

  [1]Plumtree Softwareen.wikipedia.org

  Plumtree introduced self-service personalization through modular services then described as gadgets and later known as portlets.

• 1996

  Plumtree Software is founded

  [1]Plumtree Softwareen.wikipedia.org

  Product managers and engineers from Oracle and Informix founded Plumtree with funding from Sequoia Capital.

Enterprise software focused on unifying distributed corporate information, applications, search, collaboration, and Web services through an open, multi-platform portal architecture.

• Enterprise portal

  Plumtree Corporate Portal

  Plumtree's flagship portal organized information from file systems, Web sites, document databases, groupware repositories, and other enterprise sources. It combined directory, indexing, search, personalization, security, and application-integration functions. Users could assemble portal pages from modular services and access information through a common interface rather than navigating each underlying system separately.

• Collaboration software

  Plumtree Collaboration Server

  Collaboration Server extended the portal model with shared workspaces and community-oriented features. It was intended for teams, business units, customers, and partners that needed common pages for resources, communication, and services within the enterprise portal environment.

• Web content management

  Plumtree Content Server

  Content Server provided Web content management capabilities within Plumtree's broader Enterprise Web strategy. It used the portal's shared security, administration, and user-interface framework to manage and publish enterprise Web content alongside applications and other information sources.

• Enterprise search

  Plumtree Search Server

  Search Server supported indexing and federated search across the heterogeneous repositories connected to the portal. Its architecture reflected Plumtree's emphasis on integrating multiple search engines and content sources rather than requiring a single repository or platform.

• Web application and data publishing

  Plumtree Studio Server

  Studio Server formed part of Plumtree's expanded Enterprise Web suite and supported the creation or publication of enterprise Web experiences, including forms and data-oriented services integrated into the portal environment.

• Developer tools · 2003

  Enterprise Development Kit

  Released in 2003, the Enterprise Development Kit helped Java and .NET developers create Web services compatible with Plumtree's architecture. It was intended to make remote services behave more like native portal components while preserving cross-platform and cross-language interoperability.

• 2005

  Accept acquisition by BEA SystemsM&A

  Background

  After operating as an independent portal vendor and public company, Plumtree became a target for acquisition within the enterprise middleware and application infrastructure market.

  Action taken

  BEA Systems acquired Plumtree on October 20, 2005.

  Aftermath

  Plumtree products were marketed under BEA's AquaLogic brand. Oracle's later acquisition of BEA transferred the technology into Oracle's portfolio.

  Source

• 2001

  Expand from portal software into the Enterprise WebStrategy

  Background

  Plumtree sought to extend its role beyond a single portal product as customers demanded integrated search, content management, collaboration, forms, and data-publishing capabilities.

  Action taken

  The company acquired or developed complementary technologies and packaged them as Collaboration Server, Content Server, Search Server, and Studio Server.

  Aftermath

  The broader portfolio positioned Plumtree as an enterprise Web and smart-suite provider, although contemporary accounts indicated that some early implementations were limited by heavy client-side JavaScript requirements.

  Source

• 2000

  Adopt a radically open HTTP-based portal architectureStrategy

  Background

  Plumtree faced the problem that large organizations used multiple programming languages, application servers, and operating systems. Locally hosted portal components could create compatibility constraints and allow one failed component to affect the wider portal.

  Action taken

  The company redesigned the portal to communicate with distributed components through HTTP and Internet protocols, allowing services to run remotely and to be implemented in different languages and environments.

  Aftermath

  The approach improved cross-platform openness and fault isolation but created substantial performance requirements, leading Plumtree to develop a parallel engine for high-volume communication.

  Source

1. 1Plumtree Softwareen.wikipedia.org