Message Systems

Message Systems
Industry Computer software
Founded 2006 (spun off OmniTI)
Founders George Schlossnagle
Theo Schlossnagle
Headquarters Columbia, Maryland
Key people
 George Schlossnagle, President
Phillip Merrick, CEO
Products Momentum, Momentum Managed Cloud, Momentum Mobile, Momentum Bridge, SparkPost, PowerMTA
Website Message Systems web site

Message Systems is a software developer whose primary solution is Momentum, a message transfer agent (MTA) platform designed for sending and receiving large volumes of email. Message Systems software is used by a wide array of companies, including Facebook, PayPal, American Express, LinkedIn, US Airways, Time Warner, Salesforce.com, Oracle, Comcast, Twitter, and Groupon.[1]

The company addresses the SME (small and medium-sized enterprises) market with SparkPost, an API-based cloud service, and PowerMTA, an on-premises solution.[2][1]

Overview

In 2008, Message Systems was spun off global IT services company OmniTI, which was founded in 1997 by brothers George and Theo Schlossnagle and is still in business today. George Schlossnagle is Message Systems' President and Phillip Merrick, who was appointed in April 2014, is its CEO.[3] Merrick previously helmed the software company webMethods and took it public in 2000 in what was one of the largest tech IPOs (initial public offering) of that time.[4]

Message Systems' headquarters are in Columbia, Maryland, with additional offices in San Francisco, Seattle, and London. The company also operates with a global network of partners across North America, Europe, and Asia.[3]

Software and Services

The Momentum platform was designed as a commercial alternative to such open source MTA offerings as Postfix, Sendmail, and Exim.

One of Momentum's main features is Adaptive Delivery, which monitors SMTP reply codes for transient (4xx) and permanent (5xx) failures, and fine tunes bulk email delivery in a variety of ways. Depending on the rate of negative codes received, Momentum can identify potential problems and throttle back sending rates if necessary, or accelerate them as appropriate.[5] Additionally, if messages are flagged by receivers as potential spam, Adaptive Delivery can delay sending additional emails to that domain until the problem is resolved.

Momentum also offers several other features that optimize bulk email sending, notably its message queue architecture and support for multicore CPUs. The platform is managed through a web-based user interface.[6]

SparkPost uses the Momentum platform as its foundation and offers many of the same analytics, templates, and other features as Message Systems' on-premises offering. PowerMTA, which was added to the company's product line through the acquisition of Port25, offers the same functionality for SME customers who prefer an on-premises solution.

In addition to its software, Message Systems offers a variety of professional services, including training, maintenance, and more.

History of Message Systems

Message Systems' first product was Ecelerity, the precursor to the Momentum platform. In 2009, the Ecelerity name was changed to Momentum, but Message Systems kept the Ecelerity brand in various places, such as the ecelerity.conf master configuration file used by the Momentum application server.[7]

On November 12, 2014, Message Systems announced SparkPost, a cloud-based service that allows SME developers to use many of Momentum's features in their web and mobile applications. It offers high scalability and pay-as-you-go pricing, allowing growing companies to take advantage of Momentum's e-mail sending capabilities as their volumes continually rise. The company launched SparkPost as an invitation-only Beta.

Message Systems addressed SME developers who need an on-premises solution by acquiring Port25 and its PowerMTA software on February 5, 2015. The purchase also added Salesforce's marketing cloud, CNN, New York Times Digital, and Port25's other 1,000 customers to Message Systems' customer base.[8]

Funding

In March 2010, Message Systems received its first institutional investment when NewSpring Ventures made a multi-million dollar investment in the company.[9] Two years later, private equity firm LLR Partners made an undisclosed investment in Message Systems, which said it would use the money to further develop its software, solidify its position in existing markets, and expand into new ones.[10]

In February 2015, Message Systems received an additional round of funding in the form of $27 million from an investment group including Hercules Technology Growth Capital, LLR Partners, and NewSpring Capital. The company also lined up an $8 million line of credit from Hercules.[11]

Awards and Recognition

Message Systems has received several awards. In June 2014, the company was named to the Online Trust Alliance (OTA) Online Trust Audit and Honor Roll for a second consecutive year.[12]

2013 saw Message Systems win a trio of awards: the Silver Stevie International Business Award in the Best New Product – B2B category; a spot at number 366 on Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 list; and an entry at number 3,194 on the Inc. 5000 list of America's fastest-growing companies.[13][14][15]

In 2011, the company won an "Excellence in Security by Design" award from the Online Trust Alliance, and in 2010, Message Systems was a finalist in the 8th Annual American Business Awards in the Best Overall Company of the Year category.[16]

Message Systems also hands out its own Customer Excellence Awards (CEA) in four categories: Product Improvement Award, Innovation Award, Lifetime Achievement Award, and Rookie of the Year Award. The CEA started in 2013.[17]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "The biggest email provider you've never heard of"
  2. ↑ "Is Undelivered Email Costing You Money?"
  3. 1 2 "Company Overview of Message Systems Inc."
  4. ↑ "LinkedIn's 109% pop on first day of trading isn't close to 'dotcom era' IPO jumps"
  5. ↑ "CrunchBase - Message Systems"
  6. ↑ "Message Systems - Momentum"
  7. ↑ "Message Systems - Ecelerity"
  8. ↑ "Message Systems Buys Rival Port25 Solutions To Create Email Infrastructure Giant"
  9. ↑ "NewSpring invests in Message Systems"
  10. ↑ "LLR invests in digital-message focused firm"
  11. ↑ "The Buzz: Merrick’s Message Systems brings in $27 million from investment group"
  12. ↑ "2014 Online Trust Audit & Honor Roll"
  13. ↑ "2013 New Products & Product Management Awards Category Stevie Award Winners"
  14. ↑ "Technology Fast 500 2013 Ranking"
  15. ↑ "Inc. 5000 #3194 2013"
  16. ↑ "Message Systems Wins the Online Trust Alliance OTA 'Excellence in Security by Design' Award"
  17. ↑ "Honoring Message Systems Customers"

External links

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