Seven Tech Companies That Changed Their Names in 2013

by Sean Michael Kerner

At the beginning of 2013, beleaguered smartphone vendor Research In Motion announced its new BlackBerry 10 operating system and devices. As part of the launch event, RIM announced that it was renaming the company BlackBerry.

One of the most talked-about technologies of 2013 was the open-source Docker virtualization technology. Docker is a technology project that was started by dotCloud, but it became obvious in 2013 that the name Docker was better known and respected. DotCloud officially changed its name to Docker Inc. on Oct. 29.

10gen got its start in 2007, trying to build an open-source cloud computing stack. Along the way, the company built the open-source MongoDB NoSQL database, which has become increasingly popular. “When we saw the potential for the database we had built, we decided to focus 100 percent on MongoDB,” co-founder Dwight Merriman said in a statement in August when he announced the new company name.

On Dec. 9, Opscode announced that it was changing its name to Chef—which is well-known in the DevOps world as an open-source configuration management and orchestration tool. “While there are many terrific organizations that build on Chef as part of their own solution, there is only one Chef, the company,” Barry Crist, CEO, wrote on the company’s blog when the name change was announced.

Not all corporate renaming attempts were successful in 2013. Case in point is open-source database vendor Garantia Networks, which tried to rename itself ReddisDB in November, but ended up being unable to do so for reasons that have not yet been publicly disclosed.

Not all technology vendors’ company renaming efforts were about a central product brand. One example is mobile security vendor Clutch Mobile, which was renamed Mojave Networks in November alongside a $5 million round of funding.

In early 2014, mobile testing vendor uTest is set to be rebranded Applause in a bid to broaden its appeal.