Status of the Galaxy Application Framework

Visix to shut its doors

Stewart Deck

Visix Software, Inc.'s CEO said the company's board of directors has decided to dissolve the company. Under incorporation law, the Reston, Va.-based company will exist only in the hands of a trustee as of late April.

"It didn't make sense to run the company until it was forced into a bankruptcy situation. It was in everyone's best interest to do an orderly wind-down so that customers could be handled properly and the employees could be given some type of severance," said Visix CEO Barry Libenson, in an interview last night.

But some users of Visix's Galaxy cross-platform development tools questioned whether the move was handled properly. Only a small portion of Galaxy users were notified by the company about its future. According to Libenson, Bellcore, Inc. and JP Morgan Securities, Inc. were officially notified about the company's fate earlier this month. He said other customers that have called Visix have also been told.

Meanwhile, worrisome questions and rumors concerning the company's health have been circulating on Internet newsgroups since the beginning of this month. Libenson said that out of about 60 employees, only 13 were still on the job after Feb. 27. Libenson's last day is March 31. A support group for Galaxy users has formed with 156 users to replace the former Galaxy Users Group that Visix helped organize.

Libenson said changing market dynamics doomed the company. "Our strongest suit was cross-platform development tools, and the demand for that technology was not growing or showing any signs of growth. If anything, it was in decline."

Libenson also said the company's decision to focus its energies on developing client-side Java applications -- specifically with its Vibe product -- didn't pay off either. "The use of Java is more prolific on the server side, and Sun [Microsystems, Inc.] hasn't been able to deliver what they've promised on the client side. That made a non-market for us, and we had invested significant time and money into our Java-based product."

Mitch Kramer, an analyst at Patricia Seybold Group in Boston, said Visix's demise isn't too surprising. "Their technology seemed appealing, but there wasn't solid marketing and product management behind it," Kramer said. "It was another neat product that fell into a large space. ... When you're a small company, you need focus in order to succeed."

Visix will make source code available for sale to customers who need to continue to support existing Galaxy development platforms. "We're attempting to be as responsive as we can under the circumstances," Libenson said. "We only have a small team left here, but we're trying to answer any questions as quickly as possible." Libenson added that Visix will officially notify its customers about the company dissolution as required by incorporation law.

"This is not the way I had anticipated things coming to a close," Libenson added. "I had hoped for much bigger and better things."

(Computer Industry news, 03/25/98 12:25:18 PM)

Galaxy Acquired by Ambiencia

Ambiencia Information Systems, Inc., a Florida company, announced today that it has acquired the Galaxy Application Environment product line from Visix Software, Inc., for an undisclosed sum.

The Galaxy Application Environment is a systems development tool supporting the building of cross-platform enterprise-wide applications. Galaxy customers include major firms in the financial services, telecommunications, defense manufacturing and independent software vendor industries in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Ambiencia's parent company, Ambiencia Sistemas de Information Ltd., is headquartered in Campinas, Brazil and has been the exclusive distributor in Brazil for the Galaxy environment. Ambiencia was a Galaxy user for some years and integrated Galaxy in its production line, therefore Ambiencia believes in the technology, and because of that it will continue evolving the product. It has already established a maintenance and support unit for Galaxy customers worldwide (support@ambiencia.com). At this moment there are a group of 20 people in Brazil and some former Visix employees working in the maintenance, support and new development. In addition, based on its commitment to continued investment in product development and enhancement, Ambiencia has announced plans for a new 3.X release of Galaxy in the second quarter of 1999, and a release of Galaxy 4.0, a significantly functionally enhanced new version, tentatively scheduled for the third/fourth quarter of 1999.

"We are very excited about our Galaxy acquisition, and believe it has enormous potential," said Fuad Gattaz Sobrinho, Ambiencia president. "Galaxy has a large group of loyal users around the world who continue to need our product. Our software technicians are a team of highly sophisticated specialists who are part of a major international software engineering project. They will provide first-rate support to Galaxy users. We are open for listening about requirements to be incorporated in the product in future versions" Ambiencia is the only company legally authorized to provide Galaxy support. The price has been kept the same and discount for large quantities can be provided.

In addition to the Galaxy product line, Ambiencia has acquired the Vibe product line and the Looking Glass product from Visix. Vibe is a cross-platform development tool for use in Java-based environments. Looking Glass is a graphical front end to the Unix operating system.

Visix Software, formerly headquartered in Reston, Virginia, is now winding up its business affairs. "We are very pleased to have been able to transfer our products to a company like Ambiencia," said Deborah Luth Bedell, president of Visix. "We are confident of Ambiencia's ability to provide excellent maintenance and technical support to our customers, who will surely appreciate the continuity of service as Visix withdraws from the scene."

For additional information refer to Ambiencia's web page www.ambiencia.com. Support services may be requested through e-mail at support@ambiencia.com.