Versant corporation

Last updated
Versant Corporation
Industry Software
Database management
Founded1988
Defunct2012
FateAcquired by Actian (2012;11 years ago (2012))
Headquarters
Redwood City, California
,
USA
Products Object Database
RevenueIncrease2.svg 25,3 million USD (2008) [1]

Versant Corporation was an American-based software company building specialized NoSQL data management systems. Versant products are deployed in industries including: telecommunications, defense, life sciences, biomedical, transportation, finance, and online gaming. Versant was founded in Menlo Park, California (USA) in 1988. It was headquartered in Redwood City, California. Engineering teams were located in Hamburg, Germany and Redwood City.

Contents

History

The company was founded by Dr. Kee Ong in August 1988 as "Object Sciences Corporation". Ong previously worked with the open-source relational database management system Ingres. Around this time object-oriented programming (OO) became popular, and the company used research done at the University of Wisconsin [2] for a commercial database system to complement OO languages. The company's initial executive team included Michael Seashols (CEO), Dr. Kee Ong (CTO), John Hughes (VP, Sales), Dr. Mary Loomis (VP, Services) and Susan Dickerson (VP, Business Development).

In early 1990 the company was renamed “Versant Object Technology.” In April 1993 David Banks took over as CEO. [3] On July 18, 1996 Versant had their initial public offering (IPO) on the NASDAQ stock exchange and traded under the symbol VSNT. [4] The company raised $14.9 million from the IPO, and was based in Menlo Park, California at the time, but moved to Fremont, California in 1997. [4] In January 1998 Nick Ordon succeeded Banks as CEO. [5] on July 15, 1998 the company was renamed again to Versant Corporation. [6]

In March 2004, Versant acquired Poet Software GmbH, a European-focused company targeting the Windows product market which had traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. In 2005, Jochen Witte, president of Poet Software, took over as CEO of Versant Corporation. In August 2005, the common stock had a 1-for-10 reverse stock split. On December 1, 2008 Versant acquired the assets of the database software business of Servo Software, Inc. (formerly named db4objects, Inc.). It developed the open source embedded database technology db4o. [1] [6]

The original implementation of Versant was targeted at C, C++ and Smalltalk users. In 1995 Versant introduced support for the Java programming language and then in 2009 for C# and the .NET platform. In 2012 Versant introduced Versant JPA, a Java Persistence API 2.0 compliant interface for its object database, with a technical preview of an analytics product including Apache Hadoop support.

In late 2012, after rejecting an offer by UNICOM Systems Inc., Versant Corporation announced it was being acquired by Actian Corporation, the commercial developer of Ingres and Vectorwise. The acquisition was promoted using the marketing term big data. [7] It closed in December for an estimated $37 million. [8]

Products

Versant Object Database was renamed Actian NoSQL Database and it's currently used as the metadata store for Avalanche, Actian's cloud data warehouse offering based on VectorH, an MPP version of Vector (formerly known as Vectorwise).

Other than Versant Object Database, Versant marketed two other commercial object-oriented database management systems (OODBMS), Versant JPA and Versant FastObjects, and the open-source database db4o.

Comparison of features:

NoSQL DatabaseNoSQL JPANoSQL Fast Objects
C/C++YesNoYes
JavaNoYesYes
.NETNoNoYes
Enterprise scalabilityYesYesNo
EmbeddableNoNoYes
Minimal administration – no specialized DBA requiredYesYesYes
Dual client/server caching architecture – improve performance by balancing resourcesYesYesYes
Multicore scalability – get the most value from your hardwareYesYesNo
No mapping code required – focus on the business problemYesYesYes
Online schema evolution – update your application without downtimeYesYesYes

Applications

Versant marketed products for complex data models, ingesting large amount of data, and large numbers of concurrent users. Versant is found in applications within industries where those characteristics come into play: global trading platforms for the world’s largest stock exchanges; network management for the world’s largest telecommunications providers; intelligence analytics for defense agencies; reservation systems for the largest airline/hotel companies; risk management analytics for banking and transportation organizations; massive multi-player gaming systems; network security and fraud detection; local number portability; advanced simulations; and social networking.

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References

  1. 1 2 "Revenues of $6.0 million for Q4 2008 / Versant acquires db4objects' database business / Share repurchase program announced". Press release. December 4, 2008. Archived from the original on December 21, 2008. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
  2. ↑ Chou, H.T.; Dewitt, David J.; Katz, Randy H.; Klug, Anthony C. (October 1985). "Design and implementation of the wisconsin storage system". Software: Practice and Experience. 15 (10): 943–962. doi:10.1002/spe.4380151003. S2CID   40376932.
  3. ↑ Versant Object Technology (April 30, 1997). "Proxy Statement". Schedule 14A. US Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
  4. 1 2 Versant Object Technology (March 28, 1997). "Annual Report for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1996". Form 10-KSB. US Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
  5. ↑ Versant Object Technology (April 30, 1998). "Proxy Statement". Schedule 14A. US Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
  6. 1 2 Versant Corporation (January 14, 2009). "Annual Report for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2008". Form 10-K. US Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
  7. ↑ "Giving Thanks for Versant and Actian". Blog. Enterprise Strategy Group. November 26, 2012. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
  8. ↑ Doug Henschen (February 1, 2013). "Actian Builds Mini Big Data Empire". Information Week. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
  9. ↑ [3] “New Versant JPA Delivers Multiple NoSQL Analytics,” Dr. Dobb’s Journal. October 28, 2012.
  10. ↑ [5] “FastObjects Tutorial,” YouTube. January 9, 2012.
  11. ↑ [6] Db4o website Archived 2012-12-27 at the Wayback Machine
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