Compose Is Joining IBM

Today we are excited to announce that Compose is joining IBM. As founders, it was the biggest and most important decision we've ever had to make — much more difficult than we ever would have guessed back when we only dreamed of having a successful company. While we are profitable and growing fast, we think now is the right time to team up with a larger company. We will be able to do more, faster, and it's the best way to continue our mission. Also, I'm not going to say the word "synergy", but synergy.

At IBM, Compose will be part of the Cloud Data Services (CDS) group. It's a great fit. We'll be able to continue building what we think is important, with a brand we really like, and the same team that works so well together. All with the backing of a major company. As a nice bonus, we're especially excited about CDS. IBM has a tremendous database pedigree (it's kind of ridiculous, Codd invented the relational model there in the '60s) and CDS is the spearhead of their efforts to reinvent the entire company. It's an incredible new challenge.

For customers who are wondering what this change means, here is a list of things you might care about:

Our business model . We won't be hiring any sales people anytime soon, nor will our customers be getting any unsolicited phone calls from anyone in sales or marketing. IBM really likes how we sell to developers, it's a big part of why they found us intriguing in the first place.

Datacenters . If you like the datacenter you're in, you can stay there. It's not going away. But, as a result of the acquisition, we will be expanding datacenter options soon.

Support . Customers will still get support from the team at Compose. And, we plan to expand our support to more regions for even faster response times.

Pricing . Our prices aren't changing. However, we may (hint, hint foreshadowing) have new product and pricing options for customers in the near future who want even more control over their datacenters and databases. Stay tuned.

Database technologies . This doesn't need saying, but I'll say it anyway. We will keep running the same databases. And someday, we will offer all the databases.

Our way of working. We love being a distributed company. Many of us work from our homes and like to occasionally relocate for weeks or months at a time to work in other parts of the world. That's not changing. In fact, this is one of the reasons IBM is good for us. They're the most remote-friendly huge company on the planet.

To sum up: If you're a customer, nothing is changing. It's simply getting a little more credible.

There's more about this announcement on the IBM website. If you're a press release junkie, you'll find one there.

On a more personal note, when we made the jump to "building a startup" six years ago, the future was anything but certain. Starting a company is a certain kind of crazy, too. Starting a company when you have family and kids was another layer of zaniness. We've been fortunate, though, and it worked better than we could have imagined. It's been a magnificent ride.

I'm really proud of our team and their work. It is because of them that Compose has become such an amazing company. I know that's the trite, expected thing for a founder to say, but it really is true. I love working at this company, love the culture we have built together and love working with everyone here. They are the real-deal magic that makes this meaningful. I couldn't be happier that they're all coming with us along this ride.

Kurt Mackey and Jason McCay

Founders