News

NetIQ, WebTrends Merge

• By Scott Bekker
• 01/17/2001

“There was a tremendous opportunity to bring together two market leading companies,” says Eli Shapira, CEIO at WebTrends. To date, NetIQ has focused primarily on low-level network management, while WebTrends’ competency has been web application monitoring and management.

Rick Pleczko, vice president of marketing at NetIQ, uses a networking analogy to explain NetIQ’s decision to merge with WebTrends, “Our next step was to move up the stack a little,” he says, suggesting its next opportunity was higher-level management. Shapira agrees, saying “[Network Management] really has to start diving into the information directed through the ebusiness infrastructre.”

Pleczko says that customers can expect some integration between the combined company’s product lines. In addition, the new company will enter the security management by combining products orphaned at the old companies. NetIQ will combine its intrusion detection and low-level security products with firewall management products from WebTrends for a complete security suite.

WebTrends offers products for Windows, Solaris, and the RedHat Linux flavors, lending cross-platform experience to the new NetIQ. Although NetIQ’s experience lays primarily in managing Windows networks, its recent agreement with Microsoft compels the company to begin managing other platforms. Shapira says that the merger will make this task easier, “We have tremendous opportunity to extend our penetration into hetereogenous platforms.”

Shapira says that WebTrends is a good fit for NetIQ, beyond product integration. “We found amazing synergies between our two cultures,” he says, “we’re both customer-driven companies.”

The merger is valued at approximately $1billion, with NetIQ shareholders retaining 76% of the combined company. Pending Security and Exchange Commision and shareholder approval, the merger is expected to be complete late in the first quarter, 2001. – Christopher McConnell