The SpringSource unit of VMware, supplier of the lightweight Spring Framework for Java, has acquired Rabbit Technologies, a U.K. firm that has produced an open source messaging system. No acquisition terms were disclosed.

With the acquisition, SpringSource is moving from being a supplier of lightweight tools for building Java services, including Java Web services, to becoming a supplier of tools for building service-oriented, cloud applications.

Messaging is a normal component needed by an application as it communicates with the software world around it. But "cloud applications require a fundamentally different messaging infrastructure," said Rod Johnson, general manager of the SpringSource division, in the announcement Tuesday.

SpringSource has acquired Rabbit's messaging product, RabbitMQ, "to extend its emerging application platform with [messaging] that is critical to modern virtual and cloud deployment models," he said.

RabbitMQ will be integrated into the Spring Framework and assist Java developers in making their applications better able to function in public or private cloud settings.

"RabbitMQ forms the backbone for many varied cloud messaging systems," said Alexis Richardson, CEO and co-founder of Rabbit Technologies. The system provides a multi-protocol, portable message queuing system, he said in the announcement. RabbitMQ will remain open source code, he added.

Rabbit was initially a spin-off of a U.K. consulting firm, LShift, and a U.S. virtualization company, CohesiveFT. SpringSource was acquired by VMware in August for $420 million.