SonicWall

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SonicWALL Inc
private company
Industry Network Security, security appliances, Internet security, WAN optimization
Founded 1991
Founder Sreekanth Ravi, Sudhakar Ravi
Headquarters San Jose, California
Key people
 Bill Conner (CEO)
Products Next-Generation Firewall; UTM; firewalls; VPN; wireless security; security appliance filtering spam, spyware, viruses and other malware
Revenue US$265 million (2011)[1]
Owner Francisco Partners and Elliott Management
Number of employees
 1000 (December 2011)[1]
Website www.sonicwall.com

SonicWall, originally a private company headquartered in San Jose, California, and Dell subsidiary from 2012 to 2016, sells a range of Internet appliances primarily directed at content control and network security. These include devices providing services for network firewalls, UTMs (Unified Threat Management), VPNs (Virtual Private Network), and anti-spam for email. The company also markets information subscription services related to their products.[2] The company solutions also serve to solve issues surrounding HIPAA and PCI compliance issues.[3]

On March 13, 2012, USA Today said that Dell had announced its intent to acquire SonicWall, which then had 130 patents and 950 employees. Dell's acquisition of SonicWall became official on May 9, 2012.[4][5]

On June 20, 2016, Dell sold SonicWall (part of its Dell Software) to private equity firm Francisco Partners and Elliott Management.[6]

History[edit]

1991: Brothers Sreekanth Ravi and Sudhakar Ravi founded the company under the name "Sonic Systems" to develop Ethernet and Fast Ethernet cards, hubs and bridges for the Apple market.[2][7]

1990s: In the late 1990s the company released a security product initially called "Interpol" and later branded "SonicWALL", a dedicated hardware appliance with firewall and VPN software intended for the small-business market. As sales for the security appliances rapidly accelerated, the company exited the Apple add-on networking business and refocused exclusively as a network security company.[7]

1999: In late 1999 the company changed its name from Sonic Systems to SonicWALL, Inc. to represent the shift to a network security company, and in November 1999 SonicWall went public (SNWL).[8]

2001: SonicWall upgraded its Global Management System (GMS) software to manage more VPN devices.[9]

2003: Matthew T. (Matt) Medeiros (formerly of Philips Components) became CEO in March 2003.[10] SonicWall acquired a number of companies through the years, expanding its product line in the process.[11]

2005: SonicWall announced the acquisition of enKoo.[12]

2007: SonicWall announced the acquisition of Aventail Corporation.[13]

2010: On July 23, 2010, SonicWall announced that it had completed its merger with affiliates of an investor group led by Thoma Bravo, LLC, which included the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan through its private investor department, Teachers' Private Capital. After the merger SonicWall was delisted from NASDAQ.

2012: On March 13, 2012, Dell announced that they had signed a definitive agreement to acquire SonicWall.[14]

2016: On May 20, 2016, Dell announced the sale of Dell Software (which included SonicWall) to private equity firm Francisco Partners and Elliott Management.[6]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b sec.gov
  2. ^ a b "SNWL: Profile for SonicWALL, Inc.". Yahoo!. 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-05. 
  3. ^ "SonicWall PCI Compliance Case Study" (PDF). SonicWall. 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-06. 
  4. ^ USA Today, page B1, published March 14, 2008, "Dell buys security specialist SonicWall"
  5. ^ "Dell completes acquisition SonicWall". Businesswire.com. May 9, 2012. 
  6. ^ a b "Francisco Partners and Elliott Management to Acquire the Dell Software Group". www.sonicwall.com. 
  7. ^ a b "Corporate Information". SonicWall. 1999. Archived from the original on 1999-05-04. Retrieved 2010-03-05. 
  8. ^ "SonicWall IPO Should Make Noise". Ecommerce Times. 1999. Retrieved 2010-03-05. 
  9. ^ Greene, Tim (2001-07-30). "SonicWall boosts VPN software". Network World. 18 (31). IDG Network World Inc. p. 8. ISSN 0887-7661. Retrieved 2015-02-03. Global Management System (GMS) 2.0 lets users manage up to 10,000 pieces of SonicWall VPN hardware, a tenfold increase [...]. 
  10. ^ "SonicWall Company Officers — Reuters". Reuters. 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-05. 
  11. ^ "News Archive Search of "SonicWall acquisition" including frequency chart". Google. 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-05. 
  12. ^ "SonicWall Acquires Lasso Logic, Inc. and enKoo". 
  13. ^ "SonicWall, Inc. to Acquire Aventail Corporation". PR Newswire. 2007. Retrieved 2014-04-25. 
  14. ^ Worthen, Ben; Sherr, Ian (2012-03-13). "Dell to Buy IT-Security Company SonicWall — WSJ.com". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 13 March 2012. 
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