Allaire Acquires Java-based Technology

Allaire continued it aggressive move into the Java market by purchasing Kawa Java integrated development environment from Tek Tools for approximately $9 million. Allaire made the announcement Monday during the company's second annual Developer's Conference.

The addition of Kawa, a widely adopted IDE for Java programming with more than 30,000 paid licenses, is designed to complement the Allaire JRun Java Application Server. The technology will also extend Allaire's visual tools product line and J2EE platform for building Web applications, Allaire officials said.

Under the agreement, the entire Kawa engineering team will relocate from Texas to Allaire's headquarters in Newton, Mass. Kawa's founder, creator and chief architect Nag Rao, will lead Allaire's Kawa product team. Kawa will continue to support other major Java application servers beside Allaire's JRun, including BEA WebLogic and Sun Microsystems' J2EE Reference Implementation.

"We are excited to join forces with Allaire because of their proven track record in the Java market," Rao said in a press statement.

Allaire also announced Monday a new ASP strategy that includes new licensing options and tailored partner programs for ASPs.

The Commercial Service Provider Licensing Program features a pay-as-you-go payment structure for customers. In addition, the Allaire Alliance program now has an ASP division for its ISVs and OEM partners that offer their applications through the ASP model.