Message Systems
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.
Overview
In 2006, 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. 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. 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.
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. 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.
Message Systems also offers a variety of professional services, including training, maintenance, and more.
History of Momentum
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.
Funding
In March 2010, Message Systems received its first institutional investment when NewSpring Ventures made a multi-million dollar investment in the company. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
See also
- Comparison of mail servers
- List of mail servers
- Message transfer agent
- Software development