Nimsoft

Nimsoft was an enterprise software company and product brand focused on monitoring IT infrastructure and managing business services. Its products were designed to give organizations visibility across heterogeneous technology environments, including networks, servers, databases, applications, virtual machines, storage systems and externally hosted services. The platform also addressed software-as-a-service and cloud environments, allowing customers to monitor systems outside their own data centers alongside conventional on-premises infrastructure. The brand emerged from the combination of Nimbus Software and Converse Software. Nimbus Software had been founded in Oslo, Norway, in 1998. Converse Software, the exclusive United States distributor of Nimbus Software, was established in Silicon Valley in 2002. The two businesses merged in 2004 to create Nimsoft, after which the combined company established its headquarters in Silicon Valley. Gary Read, who had founded the U.S. distributor, became chief executive officer. Nimsoft expanded from conventional systems monitoring into broader business service management. Its growth was supported by venture investment, including a $10.3 million Series A round in 2007 involving JMI Equity and Northzone Ventures, followed by a $12 million financing round led by Goldman Sachs in 2008. The company also pursued acquisitions and technology purchases to broaden its capabilities. In 2008 it acquired Indicative Software, adding business service management capabilities and creating an additional research and development base in Fort Collins, Colorado. In 2009 it acquired the intellectual-property assets of Cittio, which contributed network discovery, topology mapping and graph-based root-cause analysis functionality. A significant part of Nimsoft's positioning was unified monitoring across traditional and externally hosted infrastructure. In 2009 the company announced an architecture intended to monitor software-as-a-service and cloud-based environments as well as internally operated systems. This helped place Nimsoft within the growing market for cross-environment infrastructure monitoring, where customers sought a single operational view instead of separate tools for physical, virtual and hosted systems. CA Inc. announced an agreement to acquire Nimsoft in March 2010 for $350 million. Following the transaction, Nimsoft technology became part of CA's management-software portfolio while retaining substantial brand recognition. The product line continued to expand through support for Vblock converged infrastructure, NetApp storage and CA's integration of WatchMouse, a Netherlands-based monitoring company acquired in 2011. Nimsoft also introduced Unified Manager in 2011, combining monitoring and service-management functions. Nimsoft ceased to operate as an independent CA business unit in 2012, although CA continued to use the Nimsoft name for related products. After Broadcom acquired CA Technologies in 2018, the technology was incorporated into Broadcom's enterprise software activities and was subsequently associated with the DX Unified Infrastructure Management product identity. Nimsoft is therefore best understood today as a legacy enterprise software brand and technology lineage within the CA and Broadcom portfolio rather than as an independent software vendor.

Nimsoft's origins trace to Nimbus Software, founded in Oslo, Norway, in 1998. Nimbus developed software for monitoring IT systems and services. Its exclusive U.S. distributor, Converse Software, was established in Silicon Valley in 2002. The distributor's position gave it a direct role in bringing Nimbus technology to the American market and ultimately led to a corporate combination. Nimbus Software and Converse Software merged in 2004, forming Nimsoft. Gary Read, the founder of Converse Software, became chief executive officer, and the new company based its headquarters in Silicon Valley. Nimsoft operated as an independent software vendor serving organizations that needed to monitor distributed IT environments and connect technical performance data with business-service management. The company raised a $10.3 million Series A financing round in 2007 from JMI Equity and Northzone Ventures. In April 2008, Nimsoft acquired Indicative Software to strengthen its business service-management offering. The transaction also resulted in an additional research and development base in Fort Collins, Colorado. Nimsoft received the San Francisco Business Times' 2008 Best Place to Work Award and later that year raised a further $12 million in financing led by Goldman Sachs. Nimsoft continued to broaden its technology through the purchase of Cittio's intellectual-property assets in May 2009. Cittio technology contributed network discovery, topology mapping and root-cause analysis capabilities based on graph theory. In October of the same year, Nimsoft announced a unified monitoring architecture intended to cover systems and services hosted outside the customer's own facilities, including SaaS applications and cloud-computing infrastructure. This extended the platform beyond conventional data-center monitoring. In March 2010, CA Inc. announced that it would acquire Nimsoft for $350 million. The acquisition placed Nimsoft within CA's enterprise management software activities. Later in 2010, Nimsoft added support for Vblock products from VCE. In April 2011, the company announced Unified Manager, which brought monitoring and service management together in a more integrated product. It also announced enhanced management support for NetApp storage in June. CA acquired WatchMouse, a Netherlands-based monitoring company, in July 2011, and its software was integrated into Nimsoft. These developments strengthened Nimsoft's ability to monitor externally accessible services and distributed environments. By 2012, Nimsoft no longer existed as an independent operating unit within CA, although the brand continued to be used for associated products. Following Broadcom's acquisition of CA Inc. in 2018, Nimsoft technology became part of Broadcom's enterprise software portfolio. The product lineage was subsequently rebranded as DX Unified Infrastructure Management. Nimsoft's historical importance lies in its effort to unify infrastructure monitoring, service management and visibility across on-premises, virtualized, SaaS and cloud environments.

1. 2018CA becomes part of Broadcom

   Broadcom's acquisition of CA placed the Nimsoft product lineage within Broadcom's enterprise software activities.

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2. 2012Independent operating unit ends

   Nimsoft ceased operating as an independent unit within CA, while the brand continued to be used for products.

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3. 2011Unified Manager introduced

   Nimsoft launched Unified Manager to combine IT monitoring and service management.

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4. 2010CA acquisition announced

   CA Inc. announced a $350 million acquisition of Nimsoft.

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5. 2009Cittio technology added

   Nimsoft acquired Cittio intellectual property covering network discovery, topology mapping and root-cause analysis.

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6. 2008Indicative Software acquired

   The acquisition expanded Nimsoft's business service-management capabilities and its research and development footprint.

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7. 2007Series A financing completed

   Nimsoft closed a $10.3 million Series A round involving JMI Equity and Northzone Ventures.

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8. 2004Nimbus and Converse merge

   The two companies combined to form Nimsoft, with headquarters in Silicon Valley and Gary Read as chief executive.

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9. 2002Converse Software established

   Converse Software was founded in Silicon Valley as Nimbus Software's exclusive U.S. distributor.

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10. 1998Nimbus Software founded

    Nimbus Software was founded in Oslo, Norway, establishing the business lineage that later became Nimsoft.

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Unified, cross-environment monitoring and service management for enterprise IT operations, spanning on-premises infrastructure, virtualized systems, SaaS applications and cloud-hosted services.

• Nimsoft Unified MonitoringIT infrastructure monitoring2009

  Nimsoft Unified Monitoring was the brand's central monitoring proposition. It provided visibility across network components, servers, databases, applications, virtualized environments and hosted services. Its unified approach was intended to give IT operations teams a common view of infrastructure deployed in internal data centers as well as SaaS and cloud environments.

• Nimsoft Unified ManagerIT service management2011

  Announced in 2011, Unified Manager combined IT monitoring and service-management functions. The product reflected Nimsoft's movement beyond isolated infrastructure metrics toward a more integrated operational model linking technical events with business services and service processes.

• Nimsoft Service DeskService desk software

  Nimsoft Service Desk belonged to the brand's service-management portfolio. It supported the service-desk side of Nimsoft's broader strategy, complementing infrastructure and application monitoring with processes for handling IT service activity.

• Nimsoft MonitorInfrastructure and application monitoring

  Nimsoft Monitor provided monitoring for systems and applications across physical, virtual and externally hosted environments. Capabilities associated with the wider portfolio included infrastructure observation, network discovery, topology analysis and support for cloud and SaaS deployments.

• 2011Launch of Unified ManagerProduct launch

  Nimsoft sought to connect infrastructure monitoring with service-management workflows.

  What changed. The company announced Unified Manager, a product combining IT monitoring and service management.

  Aftermath. The launch reinforced Nimsoft's positioning as an integrated IT operations and business service-management platform.

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• 2010CA acquisition of NimsoftM&A

  Nimsoft had developed a monitoring and service-management portfolio spanning infrastructure, applications and hosted environments.

  What changed. CA Inc. announced the acquisition of Nimsoft for $350 million.

  Aftermath. Nimsoft became part of CA's enterprise management portfolio and eventually ceased to operate as an independent unit.

  Acquisition value. $350 million (Announced March 2010)

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• 2009Extend unified monitoring to hosted and cloud environmentsStrategy

  Customers increasingly operated mixed environments containing internal data centers, SaaS applications and cloud-hosted infrastructure.

  What changed. Nimsoft announced a unified monitoring architecture intended to cover externally hosted systems and services alongside conventional infrastructure.

  Aftermath. The move broadened Nimsoft's positioning from data-center monitoring toward cross-environment IT operations management.

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• 2011Nimsoft introduces Unified Manager

  Nimsoft announced Unified Manager, combining IT monitoring and service-management capabilities.

  Product launchProduct generation
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• 2011CA acquires WatchMouse

  CA acquired Netherlands-based WatchMouse and integrated its software with the Nimsoft product portfolio.

  M&AProduct generation
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• 2010CA announces agreement to acquire Nimsoft

  CA Inc. announced plans to acquire Nimsoft for $350 million, bringing its monitoring and service-management technology into CA's software portfolio.

  M&A
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• 2010Nimsoft adds Vblock support

  Nimsoft extended its software to support Vblock products from the VCE company.

  Product launch
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• 2009Nimsoft acquires Cittio intellectual property

  Nimsoft acquired Cittio's intellectual-property assets, adding capabilities for network discovery, topology visualization and graph-based root-cause analysis.

  M&AProduct generation
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• 2008Nimsoft acquires Indicative Software

  The acquisition expanded Nimsoft's business service-management capabilities and established a research and development presence in Fort Collins, Colorado.

  M&A
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• 2008Nimsoft closes Goldman Sachs-led financing round

  Nimsoft announced a $12 million funding round led by Goldman Sachs.

  Other
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• 2007Nimsoft raises Series A financing

  Nimsoft completed a $10.3 million Series A financing round involving JMI Equity and Northzone Ventures to support expansion of its monitoring and management software business.

  Other
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1. Nimsoft