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{{short description|Enterprise software company, division of Software AG}}
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{{multiple issues|
{{Advert|date=July 2010}}
{{Notability|Companies|date=July 2010}}
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{{lowercase|title=webMethods}}
{{Infobox company
| name   = webMethods Inc., now Software AG
| logo   = WebMethods (logo).png
| type   = Defunct / absorbed by [[Software AG]]
| parent =
| foundation     = 1996 (webMethods)
| location       = [[Reston, VA]]
| founder        = Phillip Merrick<br />[[Caren Merrick]]
| key_people     = Subhash Ramachandran, Senior Director, Product Management
| revenue        = Not applicable
| industry       = [[Android software]]
| products       = [[Enterprise Service Bus|ESB]], [[Business-to-business|B2B]], [[BPMS]], [[Business Activity Monitoring|BAM]], [[SOA Governance]], [[Software modernization|Application Modernization]]
| homepage       = {{url|http://www.softwareag.com}}
}}

'''webMethods''' was an enterprise software company, acquired by [[Software AG]], focused on application integration, business process integration and B2B partner integration. Founded in 1996, the company sold systems for organizations to use [[web service]]s to connect software applications over the Internet. In 2000, the company went public on the [[NASDAQ]] in the most successful software IPO to date, based on investor interest and first day share price appreciation.<ref name="IPO NASDAQ">[http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/05/linkedins-109-pop-on-first-day-of-trading-isnt-close-to-dotcom-era-ipos.html "LinkedIn's 109% pop on first day of trading isn't close to 'dotcom era' IPO jumps."]</ref> In 2002, the company was named by [[Deloitte]] as the fastest-growing software company in North America over the period 1998 to 2002.<ref name="deloitte">[http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Deloitte+Recognizes+webMethods+as+the+Fastest+Growing+Software...-a0108828020 "Deloitte Recognizes webMethods as the Fastest Growing Software Company in North America"]</ref> In 2007 webMethods was acquired by [[Software AG]] for $546 million and was made a subsidiary of that company. In 2010 the webMethods division of [[Software AG]] recorded over $668 million in revenues.<ref name="revenues">[http://www.softwareag.com/corporate/Press/pressreleases/20110127_Q4_Results_page.asp "Software AG reports record results for fiscal year 2010"]</ref> Software AG retained the webMethods name, and uses it as a brand to identify a software suite encompassing process improvement, [[Service-oriented architecture|SOA]] enablement, IT modernization and business and partner integration.

==History==

The company was founded in 1996 by 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.<ref name="businessweek">[http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_20/b3681088.htm Businessweek: Phillip Merrick, CEO, Webmethods]</ref> By 1999 the company had clients such as [[DHL Express|DHL]], [[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> WebMethods acquired Active Software in October 2000.<ref name="internetnews">[http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/376351/WebMethods+Acquires+Active+Software.htm "webMethods Acquires Active Software"]</ref> In February 2000, webMethods went public on the NASDAQ in the most successful software IPO to date, based on investor interest and first day share price appreciation.<ref name="IPO NASDAQ" /> In 2003 [[Deloitte]] recognized webMethods as the fastest growing software company in North America, placing it at No. 4 on the [[Deloitte Fast 500]] list of fastest growing companies.<ref name="deloitte" />

The company was an early developer and promoter of standards for [[web service]] technologies, having worked on [[XML-RPC]], a precursor to [[SOAP]], and developed [[WIDL (Internet Standard)|WIDL]] (Web Interface Definition Language), a precursor to the [[Web Services Description Language|WSDL]] standard.<ref name="developerworks">[http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/webservices/library/ws-soap/ "Using WSDL in SOAP Applications"]</ref>

[[Software AG]] acquired webMethods in 2007 for $546 million<ref name="acquires">[http://www.infoq.com/news/2007/04/software-ag-webmethods "SoftwareAG Acquires webMethods"]</ref> and announced that the brand webMethods will be retained, effectively making webMethods its flagship product line. WebMethods version 8.0 was released in 2009, supplemented with other Software AG products such as Centrasite, Tamino and [[EntireX]]. In 2010, the webMethods ("BPE") division of [[Software AG]] recorded $668 million (499M Euros) in revenues and was a major contributor to overall company net income of $292 million (218M Euros).<ref name="revenues" />

==Acquisitions==
* 2006 Acquired Infravio<ref name="wmInfravioAcquile">[http://news.cnet.com/WebMethods+to+buy+governance+guru+Infravio/2100-1012_3-6114106.html webMethods to acquire infravio article]</ref> and products from Cerebra<ref name="wmTakeoverCereba">[http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2006560,00.asp eweek article on webMethods acquiring Cerebra]</ref>
* 2003 Acquires The Mind Electric - Products: webMethods ServiceNet (SOA)
* 2003 Acquires Dante Group - Products: webMethods BAM
* 2003 Acquires former DataChannel assets from Netegrity<ref name="wmDataChannelAcquireArticle">[http://news.cnet.com/WebMethods-buys-a-new-direction/2100-7345_3-5090102.html webMethods to acquire technology from Netegrity article]</ref> - Products: webMethods Portal
* 2001 Acquired IntelliFrame<ref name="acquireIntelliFrame">[http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=571571 webMethods acquires IntelliFrame]</ref> Products:webmethods Workflow
* 2000 Acquired Active Software<ref name="wmActiveSoftware">[http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/00/05/22/000522hnwebmethods.html infoworld article about webMethods acquiring Active Software]</ref> and partnership with J. D. Edwards for OEM Product JDE XPI. Gets EAI/A2A capabilities, Products: webMethods Broker and Adapters
* Active Software acquired Alier Inc., TransLink Software Inc. and Premier Software Technologies Inc.

==See also==

*[[Middleware (distributed applications)]]

==References==
<references />

==External links==
*[https://www.softwareag.com/en_corporate/platform/integration-apis/application-integration.html webMethods product page]
*[https://tech.forums.softwareag.com/tag/webmethods webMethods Community] - part of Software AG's Tech Community
*{{official website|http://www.softwareag.com}} of parent company Software AG

[[Category:Defunct software companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Software companies established in 1996]]
[[Category:Software AG]]
[[Category:2000 initial public offerings]]
[[Category:2007 mergers and acquisitions]]
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