Serena Software
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software |
| Headquarters | Silicon Valley , United States |
Key people | Greg Hughes (CEO as of 2013), John Nugent (CEO 2009–2013), Doug Troxel (founder) |
| Products | IT management solutions including deployment automation, IT management, requirements management, ALM, release management, agile development, configuration management, issue tracking, ITSM, DevOps workflows |
Number of employees | 400+ |
| Parent | OpenText (since 2023) |
Serena Software Inc. is a United States-based software firm specializing in IT management solutions tailored for enterprise clients. Its offerings emphasize the coordination of processes spanning development, DevOps, and IT administration. Located in Silicon Valley, California, Serena employs a workforce exceeding 400 individuals. The company became part of the British software corporation Micro Focus in 2016 and was subsequently acquired by the Canadian enterprise OpenText in 2023, continuing as a subsidiary.
History
Serena broadened its range of products through strategic acquisitions, such as the purchase of Merant Software in 2004, which included rights to the Polytron Version Control System (PVCS). In the same year, it also acquired TeamShare, the developers behind the defect tracking tool TeamTrack, which was later renamed Serena Business Manager.
In November 2005, a leveraged buyout valued at $1.2 billion was agreed upon with private equity firm Silver Lake Partners, which gained approximately 70% ownership. This transaction preserved the existing executive team and operational structure.
The company entered the project portfolio management (PPM) sector in October 2006 by acquiring Pacific Edge Software. Subsequent acquisitions involved technologies such as prototyping from Apptero, requirements management from Integrated Chipware, and asset discovery solutions from Data Sciences Corporation.
In September 2008, Serena expanded its SaaS offerings by acquiring Projity, known for open source project management software.
John Nugent assumed the role of CEO in November 2009. A year later, Serena launched a strategy focused on orchestrating application delivery through process-driven methodologies.
By early 2012, Serena’s Orchestrated IT products—Serena Service Manager (SSM) and Serena Release Manager (SRM)—received accolades as finalists and winners at Pink Elephant’s Innovation of the Year Awards.
Greg Hughes took over as CEO in January 2013. To counteract declining earnings that year, Serena reduced its staff by roughly 175 employees to enhance profitability. By mid-2013, the company reported carrying $410 million in debt.
In March 2014, founder Doug Troxel collaborated with private equity firm HGGC to repurchase Serena Software; this transaction was finalized in April 2014.
Announced in March 2016, Micro Focus intended to acquire Serena for $540 million and completed this acquisition by May 2016.
Products
Serena provides process-oriented solutions designed to manage and automate various facets of application development, DevOps practices, and IT operations. Its revenue is generated through software licensing, support contracts, and professional consulting services.
The company’s product suite addresses critical sectors including:
- Deployment automation (SDA)
- IT management
- Request and demand management
- Requirements management (RM)
- Application lifecycle management (ALM)
- Release management (RLM)
- Agile development methodologies
- Configuration management (Dimensions CM)
- Issue and defect tracking
- IT service management (ITSM)
- IT operations
- DevOps workflows
- Product development cycles
- Mainframe system environments