ArcSight, Inc. was an American software company that provided security management and compliance software packages for enterprises and government agencies. The company was acquired by Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2010. When HP split into two companies, HP Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP's ArcSight subsidiary was transferred to the latter company. HPE later sold the ArcSight subsidiary to Micro Focus.[1] OpenText acquired Micro Focus (including ArcSight) in 2023.

ArcSight, Inc.
IndustryComputer software, Cyber security management, Enterprise software
Founded2000
Defunct2010
SuccessorAcquired by Hewlett-Packard in 2010; became a subsidiary of Hewlett Packard Enterprise; sold to Micro Focus in 2016 and then OpenText in 2023
Key people
Alex Daly (founding CEO)
Hugh Njemanze (founding CTO)
Websitewww.microfocus.com/arcsight

ArcSight by OpenText is a cybersecurity product, first released in 2000, that provides big data security analytics and intelligence software for security information and event management (SIEM) and log management.[2] ArcSight is designed to help customers identify and prioritize security threats, organize and track incident response activities, and simplify audit and compliance activities.

History

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ArcSight was incorporated in May 2000, and was initially headquartered in Cupertino, California. Alex Daly was the founding CEO and Hugh Njemanze was the founding CTO.[3] Pravin Kothari was the founding Vice President of Engineering.[4] Pat Figley was the first Director of Sales. ArcSight originally was called Wahoo Technologies.[5]

The original business plan was to build a caching and acceleration platform, though, through customer interviews and after getting feedback from prospective customers, Pat Figley identified the problem in the industry of "too much data" and the founders shifted their strategy to provide security events analysis and correlation. The company was formally named ArcSight in January 2001.

In July 2001, Alex Daly was succeeded by Robert Shaw as CEO. ArcSight filed for initial public offering on September 11, 2007 and offered its shares on February 14, 2008 under symbol ARST.[6][7] It was the only Silicon Valley company to enter Nasdaq in 2008, during the Great Recession when few other technology companies went public.[8] Tom Reilly was appointed as CEO in 2008.[9] Robert Shaw retired effective October 1, 2008, citing health reasons.

In September 2010, HP announced an agreement to acquire ArcSight for approximately $1.5 billion.[10][11] ArcSight launched version 5.0 of its Logger and ESM technology, as well as IdentityView 2.0.[12] On October 22, 2010, it completed its acquisition.[13][14] ArcSight said it had more than a thousand customers at that time.[15]

On September 7, 2016, HPE CEO Meg Whitman announced that the software assets of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, including Arcsight and the rest of the HP Enterprise Security Products group, would be spun out and then merged with Micro Focus to create an independent company of which HP Enterprise shareholders would retain majority ownership. Micro Focus CEO Kevin Loosemore called the transaction "entirely consistent with our established acquisition strategy and our focus on efficient management of mature infrastructure products" and indicated that Micro Focus intended to "bring the core earnings margin for the mature assets in the deal - about 80 percent of the total - from 21 percent today to Micro Focus's existing 46 percent level within three years."[16] The merge concluded on September 1, 2017.

As of January 2019, the ArcSight portfolio has released ArcSight ESM version 7.0, ArcSight Express version 5.0, Arcsight Investigate version 2.20, and ArcSight Data Platform version 2.31 (including ArcSight's Logger, ArcMC and Event Broker technology).[citation needed]

On February 14, 2019, Micro Focus announced it had acquired Interset, a security analytics software company that provides cyber-threat protection, and announced plans to use Interset's technology to add additional value to Micro Focus ArcSight.[17]

References

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  1. ^ "Hewlett Packard Enterprise to complete software spin-off". Reuters. September 1, 2017. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
  2. ^ Timothy Prickett Morgan (September 12, 2010). "HP eyes $1.46bn ArcSight security buy: Hey, Dell. Wanna bid higher?". The Register. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
  3. ^ Alex Daly (June 1, 2000). "Njemanze Job Offer". Sample Business Contracts. Onecle. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
  4. ^ "Executive Profile & Biography - Businessweek". Executive Profile. Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved July 21, 2014.[dead link]
  5. ^ "e424b4". www.sec.gov. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  6. ^ "Prospectus". Form S-1. US Securities and Exchange Commission. December 7, 2007. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
  7. ^ silicontap: "ArcSight Prices IPO." February 14, 2008.
  8. ^ San Jose Business Journal: “Grierson helped lead ArcSight, valley's only IPO of 2008.” Tanner. Nov. 2009
  9. ^ MarketWire: “ArcSight Promotes Tom Reilly to be CEO in 2008."
  10. ^ “HP To Acquire ArcSight.” Sept. 13, 2010
  11. ^ HP to Acquire ArcSight Sept. 13, 2010
  12. ^ "ArcSight announces new versions of ESM and Logger technology". SC Media UK. September 20, 2010. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  13. ^ HP News Release. "HP Completes Acquisition of ArcSight." Oct. 2010
  14. ^ San Jose Mercury News. “Hewlett-Packard completes $1.5B ArcSight acquisition.” Russell. October 2010
  15. ^ "geek.com: "HP buys security software vendor ArcSight for $1.5 billion." September 14, 2010". Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
  16. ^ Sandle, Paul; Baker, Liana B. (September 8, 2016). "HP Enterprise strikes $8.8 billion deal with Micro Focus for software assets". Reuters. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  17. ^ "Micro Focus Completes Acquisition of Interset to Further Expand Cyber-Security Expertise". Micro Focus Press Release. February 14, 2019.