Fortra

Fortra (formerly known as HelpSystems, LLC) is an American information technology and software company based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, working in the areas of security and compliance, systems and network management, business intelligence, for IBM i, Unix, Linux and Windows environments. The company is recognized as the biggest independent IBM i software vendor in the world.
The company is owned by private equity firms HGGC, TA Associates, Charlesbank Capital Partners, and Harvest Partners.
History
1982-2010
Fortra, originally known as Help/38 and later as HelpSystems, was founded in 1982 by Dick Jacobson. An engineer with Advanced Circuits (AC) in Minnetonka, MN, Jacobson had written a program called Robot/38, used to provide IT automation for the IBM System/38. The program was originally designed to offset the computer costs for AC. In 1988, when IBM replaced the System/38 with the AS/400, the company became known as Help/Systems. The company was spun off in the late 80’s after AC was sold to Honeywell.
In 1991, in response to IBM's introduction of the AS/400 three years earlier, Fortra introduced Robot/CONSOLE, Robot/ALERT and Robot/NETWORK, a suite of tools for message management and escalation for the AS/400.
In 1992, Fortra became the first software company in the United States to be certified under the ISO 9001 standard.
In October 2006, Fortra acquired Advanced Systems Concepts (ASC), the developer of SEQUEL reporting and business intelligence tools for the i5/OS and OS/400 platform. Fortra created the SEQUEL Software division to support the product.
In August 2007, the company announced the Robot/SECURITY suite of products, supporting IBM's i5/OS systems. In September 2007, Fortra was acquired by the Boston-based private equity firm Audax Group.
In January 2008, Fortra expanded their International presence in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, by purchasing one of their partners and product distributors, eveLogic Group of England. In August 2008, Fortra bought OS/400 and IBM i security and compliance software vendor PowerTech, to complement Robot/SECURITY, and the products were eventually combined under the PowerTech name. In October 2008, they followed up by purchasing Bytware, a provider of the StandGuard brand of security, management and anti-virus tools for IBM devices.
In 2010, Robot/SCHEDULE Enterprise evolved and led to the launch of Skybot Scheduler, which was turned into a separate division. In May 2011, Skybot Software expanded their customer base by acquiring Fleet, UK-based Open Systems Management, a creator of job scheduling and IT process automation tools for Windows, Unix, and Linux platforms.
2011-present
In June 2011, Fortra bought the DataThread DB2/400 monitoring product from Innovatum, and it became part of the PowerTech line.
In April 2012, Summit Partners bought back a majority stake in Fortra. In October 2012, Fortra bought Gillingham, UK-based CCSS, the developer of QSystem Monitor, QMessage Monitor and QRemote Control systems monitoring and performance management tools for the IBM i server.
In January 2013, Fortra announced the acquisition of New Hampshire-based Dartware and their network management product, InterMapper, one of the first network mapping tools ever created. In April 2013, Fortra acquired IBM's ShowCase business intelligence products, and added the software to its SEQUEL Software division.
In April 2014, the company acquired Los Angeles-based Network Automation, the developer of the AutoMate line of workflow mapping and automation software. At the same time the company announced its Robot/NETWORK Web user interface, which allowed users to see IBM i server performance information from a mobile phone or any device with a Web browser. In July 2014, Fortra acquired Minneapolis-based document management software company RJS Software, and the data warehousing product from Australia-based Coglin Mill. Coglin Mill's data warehouse product RODIN was added to the SEQUEL product line. After this acquisition, the company was acknowledged by New York-based IT publisher IT Jungle as the biggest independent IBM i vendor in the world. In June, Fortra bought IBM i security vendor SkyView Partners, a deal which included SkyView's team of security experts. In 2017 this team expanded its service to help customers with AIX and Linux platforms too. In August, it was announced that the company was being acquired by Florida-based private equity firm H.I.G. Capital, for an undisclosed amount.
In February 2016, Fortra acquired Tango/04 Computing Group, a software company specialized on monitoring, with HQ in Barcelona (Spain) and offices in Buenos Aires (Argentina). In June, Fortra acquired Linoma Software. Linoma Software is well known for its products that enable organizations to transfer files in an automated and secure way. It also has software that encrypts data at-rest. Its products include GoAnywhere managed file transfer, the RPG Toolbox free format converter, Crypto Complete and Surveyor/400. In October, Fortra brought to market a high availability solution for IBM i users. In December, Fortra acquired TeamQuest to help more customers with IT capacity planning.
In May 2017, Fortra released a new software product called Access Authenticator - a multi-factor authentication solution for IBM i users. In July, Fortra released its free network monitoring software Intermapper. In August, Fortra announced a partnership with IBM. It involved accelerating enhancements and marketing for IBM i products including Backup, Recovery and Media Services (BRMS) on i, PowerHA SystemMirror for I, and Rational Developer for i. Fortra agreed to also enhance the development of Rational Developer for AIX and Linux (RDAL). In December, Fortra acquired Fox Technologies.
In April 2018, private equity firm HGGC became the lead investor in Fortra. In August, Fortra acquired Midrange Performance Group (MPG). In November, Fortra acquired MVP Software Systems and its JAMS enterprise workload automation solution.
In February 2019, Fortra acquired SecureAuth's Core Security. In October, TA Associates and Charlesbank Capital Partners signed a definitive agreement to become additional investors. The firms joined existing investors, HGGC. In December, Fortra acquired UK-based information security company Clearswift to expand its cybersecurity portfolio.
In June 2020, Fortra acquired data classification companies Canada-based Titus and UK-based Boldon James. In December, the company acquired VERA, a cloud based data protection solution provider.
In January 2021, Fortra acquired FileCatalyst, a provider of enterprise file transfer acceleration services. In February, the company acquired vulnerability management and threat assessment provider Digital Defense. In May, private equity firm Harvest Partners SCF LP acquired partial ownership in Fortra. Also in May, the company acquired vulnerability assessment and management provider Beyond Security. Shortly thereafter, Fortra acquired Agari, a provider of enterprise solutions that protect against advanced email threats.
In October 2021, Fortra acquired PhishLabs, a cyber threat intelligence company. Later that month, Fortra acquired Digital Guardian, a provider of data loss prevention software.
In February 2022, Fortra acquired Tripwire, a leading global supplier of specialty networking solutions. Shortly followed by the acquisitions of Alert Logic and TerraNova in March 2022, adding MDR services and security awareness training to its portfolio.
In November 2022, the company changed its name to Fortra.<ref name="rename" />

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