The release also marked the start of Apache ShardingSpheres next development stage: with its pluggable architecture as the core, it evolved from a simple data sharding middleware to a complete ecosystem supporting heterogeneous databases. In addition to its open source ecosystem building efforts, SphereEx also proactively cooperates with industry trailblazers to co-develop industry-leading innovative technologies and solutions. In the future, SphereEx will continue to support the open source community, increase its investment in technology development, and expand into global markets. Led by Zhang Liang and Pan Juan, most SphereEx employees are core members of ShardingSphere, the Top-Level Database Middleware Project powered by the Apache Software Foundation. We think that the company having a global vision, and firmly embracing its cloud hosting business model, will become a pioneer and leader in the worlds next-generation IT infrastructure revolution."