Compuware's $256M dynaTrace Buy Boosts APM

Compuware announced its $256 million acquisition of dynaTrace in a move to solidify its position in the application performance management software market.

Compuware officials said the acquisition closed July 1. dynaTrace, with its patented PurePath technology, offers a continuous APM system that transforms how applications are built, tested and managed, the company said. Moreover, hundreds of companies including Zappos, SAS, Macy's, BBVA and Thomson Reuters rely on dynaTrace technology to drive better business results by optimizing performance, accelerating time to market for new releases, reducing application-management costs, and bringing business and IT closer together, Compuware officials said.

The dynaTrace PurePath technology enables the continuous tracing of an organization's transactions, across widely distributed and complex environments, the company said.

"Organizations today depend on the rapid development and delivery of high-performing applications to drive revenues, customer satisfaction and brand," Compuware CEO Bob Paul said in a statement. "To meet these demands effectively, IT organizations must have visibility into the performance of every transaction, from development, through test and production. Together, Compuware and dynaTrace APM solutions allow IT to meet business demands for performance and agility through unbeatable insight into the user experience—whether in cloud, complex or traditional environments."

Headquartered in suburban Boston, dynaTrace employs 180 people around the world. Essentially all of these employees, including the leadership team, are expected to remain with Compuware, the company said.

Compuware said dynaTrace has a 92 percent win rate and a five-year compound annual growth rate of 125 percent because its PurePath technology solves the problem of optimizing application performance in a different and better way, said Steve Tack, chief technology officer for Compuware's APM solutions during a press conference regarding the acquisition.

With this acquisition, "Compuware is taking the dominant position in the application performance management market," Tack said.

"The APM market is undergoing a transformation; old tools simply can't meet the competitive requirements of modern applications," John Van Siclen, CEO of dynaTrace, said in a statement. "Compuware sees the same market shift and is committed to building next-generation APM solutions that bring customers greater value, with less effort, faster than ever before. We're excited to be a part of the Compuware team, which will allow us to meet and increase the skyrocketing demand for dynaTrace solutions."

dynaTrace was founded by Bernd Greifeneder, Sok-kheng Tang and Hubert Gerstmeyer in 2005. Ben Nye at Bain Capital Ventures invested in dynaTrace at its founding, and Salil Deshpande of Bay Partners joined the company's board in 2008. Pacific Crest Securities served as the advisor to dynaTrace on this transaction.