May 1, 2013
from Dan Ware, President and CEO of GemTalk Systems
We are excited to announce that our new company, GemTalk Systems, is now your source for the GemStone/S product offerings, support and professional services. The Smalltalk experts at GemTalk Systems — with their combined experience of well over 150 years with the product! — will support existing customers with the same experience and high quality of service that the industry has come to expect.
The GemTalk Systems team has a rich history of innovation and contribution to the Smalltalk community. We have a strong commitment to – and passion for – Smalltalk, and we are completely focused on enhancing and evolving our technologies and services to offer stability, reliability and outstanding support to customers who build and run their mission-critical applications on the GemStone/S platform.
VMware believes that GemTalk is a great fit for both GemStone/S customers and the Smalltalk community. We are confident that GemStone/S customers will be in good hands with seamless product support and continued technology enhancements.”– Charles Fan, senior vice president of R&D, Storage and Application Services, VMware
Please look forward with us to a seamless transition on the service side, with an increase in innovation on the product side!
If you are a GemStone/S customer and you’d like to discuss the changes, please contact me directly.
Dan Ware, President and CEO
+1 (503) 789-5675
dan.ware@gemtalksystems.com
Frequently Asked Questions about the Transition
Q. What is the origin of the name GemTalk?
We chose a name for ourselves that reflects both our rich heritage and our exciting future:
- “Gem” is a nod to the strong history of the GemStone/S product and the GemStone company.
- “Talk” is included to celebrate our forward focus on Smalltalk technology.
Q. Why is GemTalk leaving VMware?
VMware is reorganizing to align with key initiatives, and it has “spun off” new stand-alone entities:
- VMware’s big data initiative, including the product GemFire, has become a new company, Pivotal, launched 24 April 2013.
- VMware’s Smalltalk technologies (which it acquired in 2010) have moved here, to GemTalk Systems.
Now you’ll be dealing with a company with a laser focus on Smalltalk, GemStone/S, and innovations in both of them. GemTalk includes the same patent-holding principal engineers and team members who built the product.
Q. What are GemTalk’s product offerings?
Please see the Products section of this web site.
Q. Will GemTalk support both 32 and 64 bit versions of the product?
Yes, GemTalk will support both versions. We encourage all users of the 32-bit version to begin planning a migration to the 64-bit version. All new functionality will be in releases of GemStone/S 64.
Q. Will my service level be affected by this acquisition?
No. You should see no differences whatsoever in the level and quality of service. By retaining the same GemStone/S team, GemTalk will provide a seamless transition.
Q. Who do I call for support? Does the emergency hotline still operate?
The support process, including the emergency hotline, is the same, and you will be helped by the same Engineers. Most URLs, emails, and telephone numbers have changed; see for details. The private emergency number has changed. If you have 24×7 support, you should have received the new number during the transition. Please contact Technical Support right away if you do not have this number.
Q. What are the plans for product enhancements?
We will continue to release a major version of GemStone/S about once a year, with added functionality. With the creation of the new company and its more focused approach to the product, look for an increase in innovation.
Q. Will GemTalk focus only on the Smalltalk market?
Our core technology will be Smalltalk-based products, but they can provide infrastructure in other environments. We will continue to support GemBuilder for Java, and we will be revisiting MagLev for Ruby and GLASS for Seaside. New initiatives into other development areas are possible.
Q. Is there a change in staff? Will I be talking to different people?
GemTalk is pleased to say that the core engineering team members for GemStone/S have become employees of the new company. You will also recognize the executives, Dan and Norm (below).
Q. Where can I go to learn more?
This web site should answer many of your questions. You can also read the press release about the changes.
Q. Who can I call with any other questions?
If you still have questions, you can call one of our executives:
- Dan Ware, President and CEO +1 (503) 789-5675 email: dan.ware@gemtalksystems.com
- Norm Green, Senior Vice President and CTO +1 (503) 766-4710