NetScout Systems, Inc. (stylized as NETSCOUT) is a provider of
application performance management
In the fields of information technology and systems management, application performance management (APM) is the monitoring and management of the performance and availability of software applications. APM strives to detect and diagnose complex appli ...
and
network performance management
Capacity management's goal is to ensure that information technology resources are sufficient to meet upcoming business requirements cost-effectively. One common interpretation of capacity management is described in the ITIL framework. ITIL vers ...
products located in
Westford, Massachusetts
Westford is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was at 24,643 at the time of the 2020 Census.
History
Westford began as 'West Chelmsford', a village in the town of Chelmsford. The village of West Chelmsfor ...
.
In July 2015, NetScout acquired the communications business of
Danaher Corporation
Danaher Corporation is an American globally diversified conglomerate with its headquarters in Washington, D.C. The company designs, manufactures, and markets professional, medical, industrial, and commercial products and services. The company's ...
, including
,
Fluke Networks
Fluke Corporation is a manufacturer of industrial test, measurement, and diagnostic equipment including electronic test equipment. It was started in 1948 by John Fluke while he was employed at General Electric.
History
Fluke Corporation was ...
,
Tektronix Communications and VSS Monitoring. NetScout has subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands, a
tax haven
A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...
.
History
NetScout Systems was founded by Anil Singhal and Narendra Popat as Frontier Software in 1984. NetScout created the first
RMON
The Remote Network Monitoring (RMON) MIB was developed by the IETF to support monitoring and protocol analysis of LANs. The original version (sometimes referred to as RMON1) focused on OSI layer 1 and layer 2 information in Ethernet and Token ...
-based Ethernet Probe in 1992.
In November 2007, NetScout acquired the
Sniffer, Infinistream, and Network Intelligence product lines of Network General.
NetScout merged both product lines to allow their Performance Manager product to use both probes and Infinistream technologies.
In April 2011, NetScout acquired voice and video management company,
Psytechnics
Psytechnics is a telecommunications company, spun out of British Telecom's research labs in December 2000. The company's technology is behind 7 ITU standards, including PESQ ITU-T P.862. They developed real-time Quality of Experience monitori ...
, from Ipswich U.K. It then acquired Fox Replay, a privately held Dutch company in 2011, and later that year, after many years of partnering and complementing solutions for network switch port aggregation, NetScout moved directly into competition with its partners by acquiring privately held Simena Networks.
In October 2014, NetScout Systems announced it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Communications business of science and technology company
Danaher Corporation
Danaher Corporation is an American globally diversified conglomerate with its headquarters in Washington, D.C. The company designs, manufactures, and markets professional, medical, industrial, and commercial products and services. The company's ...
for about $2.6 billion. Upon completion of the merger, Danaher's shareholders would own nearly 59.5 percent of the combined company, and NetScout shareholders would own the remaining stake. Analyst firm
451 Research, a technology-industry syndicated research and data firm, predicted in May 2015 that with the acquisition, NetScout will be the largest company in the network visibility management space, with "more than 3,000 employees and well over $1bn a year in revenue".
In July 2015, NetScout finalized its acquisition of the communications business of Danaher Corporation, including
(security systems),
Fluke Networks
Fluke Corporation is a manufacturer of industrial test, measurement, and diagnostic equipment including electronic test equipment. It was started in 1948 by John Fluke while he was employed at General Electric.
History
Fluke Corporation was ...
(RF and
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...
network troubleshooting and analytics),
Tektronix Communications (traffic inspection, customer experience management and analytics) and VSS Monitoring (
network packet brokers). In a prepared statement, the company noted that the acquisition "accelerates NetScout's strategic progress by enabling the company to offer
..innovative service assurance and cyber security solutions" and adds new employees to NetScout.
Acquisitions
NetScout Systems acquired Network General in 2007.
Network General developed the original network
packet sniffer
A packet analyzer, also known as packet sniffer, protocol analyzer, or network analyzer, is a computer program or computer hardware such as a packet capture appliance, that can intercept and log traffic that passes over a computer network or p ...
(The
Sniffer) in 1986; it merged with
McAfee Associates
McAfee Corp. ( ), formerly known as McAfee Associates, Inc. from 1987 to 1997 and 2004 to 2014, Network Associates Inc. from 1997 to 2004, and Intel Security Group from 2014 to 2017, is an American global computer security software company head ...
in 1997 to form
Network Associates
McAfee Corp. ( ), formerly known as McAfee Associates, Inc. from 1987 to 1997 and 2004 to 2014, Network Associates Inc. from 1997 to 2004, and Intel Security Group from 2014 to 2017, is an American global computer security software company head ...
.
In mid-2004, Network Associates sold off the Sniffer Technologies business to
Silver Lake Partners
Silver Lake is an American global private equity firm focused on investments in technology, technology-enabled and related industries. Founded in 1999, the firm is one of the largest technology investors in the world. Its investment holdings have ...
and
Texas Pacific Group
TPG Inc., previously known as Texas Pacific Group and TPG Capital, is an American investment company based in Fort Worth, Texas. The private equity firm is focused on leveraged buyouts and growth capital. TPG manages investment funds in growth c ...
for $275 million in cash to form Network General. In early 2006, Network General acquired Fidelia Technology, adding the NetVigil Business Service Monitoring technology to their network and application performance analysis tools. In September 2007, Network General agreed to be acquired by NetScout Systems for $205 million.
References
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:NetScout Systems, Inc.
Companies based in Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Software companies based in Massachusetts
Westford, Massachusetts
Deep packet capture
Software companies established in 1984
American companies established in 1984
Companies listed on the Nasdaq
1999 initial public offerings
Software companies of the United States
Software performance management