Content deleted Content added
added 2006 interview |
Washington post is both independent and reliable |
||
Line 28:
==History==
The company was founded in 1996 by married couple Phillip Merrick and Caren Merrick to use Web standards such as [[Hypertext Transfer Protocol]] (HTTP) and (later) [[XML]] to allow software applications to communicate with one another in real time. This type of technology would later be referred to as "[[web service]]s". The company's first product, called the "Web Automation Server" was released in August 1996; this was later superseded by the "[[WebMethods Integration Server]]", which was the company's first product to see significant commercial use.
Initially, the founders used their savings and credit cards to keep the company operating in their house in [[Fairfax, Virginia]].<ref name="businessweek">{{Cite news |title= Phillip Merrick, CEO, Webmethods |url= http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_20/b3681088.htm |work= Business Week |date= May 15, 2000 |url-status= dead |author= David Rocks |archive-date= March 29, 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160329213707/http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_20/b3681088.htm }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title= How Caren Merrick started WebMethods in her basement and helped build it to a public company that sold for $546 million |work= Mixergy |author= Andrew Warner |url= https://mixergy.com/interviews/webmethods-with-caren-merrick/ |date= June 8, 2016 |access-date= November 22, 2021 }}</ref>
By 1999 the company had clients such as [[DHL Express]], [[Dell]], [[Dun & Bradstreet]] and [[Hewlett-Packard]], and had completed several rounds of venture capital investment.<ref name="s-1">[http://ipo.nasdaq.com/edgar_conv_html/1999/11/19/15/0000950133-99-003716.html#009 webMethods, Inc. S-1 Registration Statement]</ref> In March 1999 the company entered into a partnership with [[SAP AG]] to create an SAP-focused integration product called the [[SAP Business Connector]]. The company's revenue went from around $0.5M in 1997 to $14M in 1999 and $202M in 2001.<ref name="10K">[http://www.secinfo.com/dsvRq.4F9Uk.htm#3ki8 webMethods, Inc. 10-K Filing 3/31/01]</ref>
Line 37:
Active Software had acquired Alier Inc., TransLink Software Inc. and Premier Software Technologies Inc.
In January, 2001, webMethods acquired IntelliFrame Corporation, which had been part of Computer Network Technology Corporation, for about $31 million.<ref>{{Cite news |title= WebMethods Acquires IntelliFrame |url= https://www.clickz.com/webmethods-acquires-intelliframe/70368/ |work= ClickZ |date= January 26, 2001 |author= Roy Mark |access-date= November 21, 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title= WebMethods Agrees to Acquire IntelliFrame for $31.3 Million |work= Wall Street Journal |date= January 26, 2001 |url= https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB980541400551853026 }}</ref>
Although revenues grew, the company posted operating losses due to the [[early 2000s recession]] following the bursting of the dot-com bubble through 2002.<ref>{{Cite news |title= WebMethods Pares Its Losses |work= The Washington Post |date= October 23, 2002 |author= Renae Merle |access-date= November 22, 2021 }}</ref>
In October, 2003, the company announced it acquired three smaller companies in the integration market, for a combined edtimated value of $32 million.
| |||