Extreme Networks
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Networking hardware and software |
| Founded | January 1, 1996 in Cupertino, California, U.S. |
| Founder | Gordon Stitt, Herb Schneider, Stephen Haddock |
| Headquarters | Morrisville , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Ed Meyercord (CEO) |
| Products | Wired and wireless network infrastructure hardware; network management, policy enforcement, analytics, security, and access control software |
| Website | www |
Extreme Networks, Inc. is a U.S.-based networking firm headquartered in Morrisville, North Carolina. The company specializes in the design, development, and production of both wired and wireless network infrastructure hardware, alongside software solutions for network management, policy enforcement, analytics, security, and access control systems.
History
Established in 1996 by Gordon Stitt, Herb Schneider, and Stephen Haddock in California, Extreme Networks initially operated out of Cupertino before moving its headquarters to Santa Clara and subsequently San Jose. Early funding came from investors such as Norwest Venture Partners, AVI Capital Management, Trinity Ventures, and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Gordon Stitt held the position of CEO until his retirement in August 2006, after which he assumed the role of board chairman.
The company launched its initial public offering in April 1999 on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the symbol "EXTR."
In April 2013, Charles W. Berger—previously with ParAccel—was appointed CEO, succeeding Oscar Rodriguez. Berger stepped down in April 2015 and was succeeded by Ed Meyercord, who was serving as Board Chairman at that time.
Acquisitions
Extreme Networks has pursued strategic acquisitions to broaden its product offerings and expand market presence. In October 1996, it acquired Mammoth Technology. During the early 2000s, the company purchased Optranet and Webstacks for approximately $73 million and $74 million respectively.
A major expansion occurred with the September 2013 acquisition of Enterasys Networks for about $180 million. This was followed by acquiring Zebra Technologies' wireless LAN division in October 2016 for nearly $55 million.
In 2017, Extreme Networks acquired Avaya's networking segment for $100 million, gaining additional customers, staff, and technology assets projected to generate over $200 million in incremental annual revenue. Later that year, it also acquired Brocade’s Switching, Routing, and Analytics (SRA) business from Broadcom. This deal included SLX, VDX, MLX product lines as well as automation tools expected to add more than $230 million in annual revenue.
In June 2019, Extreme announced a $272 million acquisition of Aerohive Networks—recognized for its cloud-managed wireless LAN and SD-WAN solutions—with the transaction completing in August 2019. To further enhance its cloud networking portfolio, Extreme acquired Infovista’s Ipanema SD-WAN business in September 2021.
Through these acquisitions, Extreme Networks has integrated networking assets from companies including Digital Equipment Corporation, Siemens Communications, Cabletron Systems, AirDefense, Symbol Technologies, Motorola Solutions, Wellfleet Communications, SynOptics, Bay Networks, Nortel Networks, Vistapointe, StackStorm, Foundry Networks, among others. This consolidation has positioned Extreme as one of the top three enterprise networking providers by revenue globally—approaching an estimated annual turnover near US$1 billion. Industry experts highlight that this scale affords Extreme substantial resources to invest in research and development as well as innovation initiatives.
See also
External links
- Articles with short description
- Networking companies of the United States
- Networking hardware companies
- Manufacturing companies based in San Jose, California
- Technology companies in the San Francisco Bay Area
- Computer companies established in 1996
- American companies established in 1996
- 1996 establishments in California
- Companies listed on the Nasdaq
- 1999 initial public offerings
- Computer companies of the United States
- Computer hardware companies
- 5
- Companies of the United States by year of establishment