IBM has announced a partnership with Zend Technologies to develop the first integrated solution for developers to build and deploy applications and services based on PHP.
The solution will integrate IBM’s Cloudscape database, based on Apache Software Foundation Derby and Zend’s open source PHP environment.
IBM and Zend will create Zend Core for IBM under the agreement. The goal is to provide the industry’s first seamless out-of-the-box, PHP development and production environment, completely supported by Zend.
“Our partnership with IBM further cements PHP as the language of choice for business-critical web applications,” said Doron Gerstel, CEO and president of Zend Technologies. “Zend Core for IBM is in line with Zend’s goal of delivering both simplicity and robust functionality to web-based applications.”
Zend Core for IBM will feature seamless integration with IBM’s Cloudscape database server and DB2 Universal Database. The companies are also said to be working jointly to further PHP technology to include improved high-level database integration frameworks and enhanced PHP web services standards.
With PHP reportedly accounting for 40 percent of all web scripting language, the availability of Zend Core for IBM will significantly enhance developer support for the Cloudscape database.
IBM is the first vendor to support both PHP and Java with an integrated database solution.
“By partnering with Zend, we now offer our clients the broadest selection of open-source information management capabilities in the industry, with a clear path for businesses to expand their infrastructure as their needs grow,” said Janet Perna, general manager, IBM Information Management. “IBM will continue to work with Zend and the PHP open source community on future technologies that further the adoption of SOA technologies such as web services and XML.”
Zend Core for IBM will be based on PHP 5 technology. The product includes tight integration with IBM Cloudscape database server, DB2 and native support for XML and Web Services – supporting increased adoption of Service Oriented Architectures (SOA).
