Bea Systems Inc has bought itself some more object technology specialists in preparation for the launch next month of its Iceberg object transaction manager (CI No 3,353), with the acquisition of privately held Leader Group Inc. Leader Group is an object consultancy which also provides training, monitoring and technology transfer services, and boasts a methodology called Accelerated Process for rapid development of object systems. Bea gains some 40 consultants through the deal, which, according to Steve Bayle, managing director for Northern Europe, adds to the object expertise it picked up from Digital Equipment Corp as part of its acquisition of ObjectBroker and DECmessageQ last February (CI No 3,103). Iceberg, which is said to integrate object technology with Bea’s existing transaction middleware, is now due to be launched on June 2, when it will be given its proper working name. Bayle says the company has had a lot of interest in the technology, and he believes companies are now at last beginning to develop mission critical systems using objects. The technology is currently being tested with the early adopters, but Bayle believes it will quickly roll out to full development customers after the launch. Customers don’t just want a product though, says Bayle, they want a full environment, including education, support, consulting, so BEA needs the skills to provide this, he said. The 40 Leader staff will work in BEA’s new Worldwide Distributed Object Solution Center in Denver, Colorado, which will act as a center of excellence for object technology. No financial terms of the deal were given.
