DEVOPSdigest

Redgate Software has acquired the MongoDB tools company, 3T Software Labs, the makers of MongoChef.

Redgate is best known for its portfolio of tools that help SQL Server professionals working on the Microsoft Data Platform maintain their databases. 3T was founded in 2013 to create professional development tools for those using NoSQL.

Redgate made an initial investment in 3T in 2015 after seeing in the Berlin-based startup the same kind of innovative thinking in the NoSQL space that has allowed Redgate to become a leading provider of SQL Server tools.

The acquisition of the company sees 3T continue as a separate operation with the product roadmap and direction of the business decided by the three Co-Founders - Tomasz Naumowicz, Graham Thomson, and Thomas Zahn. It brings two major advantages to 3T, according to CEO Thomas Zahn: “Our business grew by a hundredfold over the last year and this substantial investment means we can meet increasing demands from more and more users for additional features and tools. It also gives us access to the resources, support, and experience of Redgate. They’ve already been on the journey we’re on and their advice has been invaluable to us.”

Redgate sees the acquisition as a natural extension of its business in a changing market, and evidence of a convergence between the worlds of SQL and NoSQL.

As Simon Galbraith, Redgate CEO and Co-Founder, explains: “The debate about choosing relational or non-relational databases is over. Larger companies are widening their data estates to include both, and often moving data between them. 3T make the best MongoDB developer tools, and they’re doing for NoSQL what Redgate has done in the SQL world for years. They have big plans on their roadmap and we’re providing the investment, the backing, and the support to make those plans happen faster and better.”

Further confirmation of the closing gap between SQL and NoSQL is DocumentDB, the NoSQL database service developed by Microsoft for its Azure Cloud framework. DocumentDB now supports drivers for MongoDB and Microsoft actually used 3T’s MongoChef graphical user interface to test its compatibility with MongoDB.

Thomas Zahn concludes: “We’ve already had some big successes with MongoChef. The involvement of Redgate means our future is in a safe pair of hands and we can continue to be ahead of the curve.”