CollabNet, XebiaLabs Merge to Create DevOps Powerhouse

A full DevOps toolchain is often a complex mashup of multiple tools that help enable collaborative development, continuous integration and deployment. In a bid to make DevOps easier, private equity firm TPG Capital announced on Jan. 21 that it is merging CollabNet VersionOne and XebiaLabs.

TPG Capital acquired CollabNet VersionOne in September 2019 and is now acquiring privately held XebiaLabs to merge the two companies. Financial terms of the deal are not being publicly disclosed, and the name of the new company has yet to be determined. CollabNet VersionOne itself is the result of the August 2017 merger of CollabNet and VersionOne.

CollabNet VersionOne's product portfolio includes enterprise application development and management capabilities; XebiaLabs' portfolio includes DevOps and continuous delivery features. TPG Capital is bringing in former Broadcom executive Ashok Reddy as the CEO of the combined company, with current XebiaLabs CEO Derek Langone becoming the president.

"The combination of CollabNet’s upstream agile planning and version control functionality with XebiaLabs' downstream release orchestration and deployment automation capabilities creates an end-to-end agile DevOps platform not available today in the enterprise," Langone told ITPro Today.

The newly merged company will have no shortage of competitors to deal with across the DevOps landscape. Prior to the merger, CollabNet’s competition was Broadcom, GitLab and Atlassian, Langone noted. XebiaLabs' competition includes CloudBees, though Langone said that in most organizations the real competition is do-it-yourself and homegrown solutions.

Integration Will Take Time

XebiaLabs updated its namesake DevOps platform to version 9.5 in December 2019, adding a new capability the company refers to as Delivery Patterns that helps provide visibility into the development pipeline. Langone noted that XebiaLabs already has an integration to CollabNet VersionOne. That said, the plan for the new company is to strengthen that integration and take it further in the coming months, he said.

"Technology companies are not integrated overnight," Langone said. "For the near term, each company will be operating and serving its customers as it always has, while our teams work to bring the companies together on all levels."

A New Brand Will Emerge

The new management team is in the process of defining and prioritizing near- and long-term goals and strategies, according to Langone. One of the priorities is a full branding effort to define what the new company will actually be called. Langone also hinted that at some point more companies will be added into the mix.

"The new name will reflect our combined culture and represent the value of our platform and our company mission," he said. " It will also accommodate additional acquisitions going forward. No spoilers yet. You’ll just have to stay tuned!"