F5 Inc. (Nasdaq: FFIV) has officially ditched "Networks" from its name.
Last week, the Seattle-based app security and delivery company, put up a blog post announcing it would no longer go by F5 Networks. For F5, a 25-year-old company that initially helped clients smoothly run their websites, the move is symbolic of its recent push into the app and cloud spaces.
"Our name — F5 Networks — no longer defines who we are or what we do," Mika Yamamoto, F5's chief marketing officer, wrote in the post announcing the change. "Today’s F5 isn’t just about load balancing websites. To mark this significant departure from the company founded back in 1996, I’m very excited to share today that we have taken the final steps to officially be known as F5, Inc."
The rebrand follows a year of acquisitions that have moved F5 further into the app and cloud spaces. In January, F5 announced its planned acquisition of Volterra, a California-based app security and deployment company, for $500 million. The deal closed later that month. In September, F5 announced the acquisition of Boston-based cloud security company Threat Stack. The $68 million deal closed in October.
F5 has touted the success of its software business during its earnings calls as well. In the company's fiscal fourth quarter 2021 earnings results, released in late October, CEO François Locoh-Donou said in a release that of its almost $340 million in product revenue for the quarter, software made up 45%, or almost $153 million.
F5 went public in 1999. The company offers app security, fraud prevention, cloud services and automation technology. Its clients include Audi and Zipwhip.
"A name can define us. It can limit us. Or it can remove those limits. Today, we signal to the world a fundamental shift. By breaking from the confines of 'networks,' we’re freeing ourselves to move boldly into a future constrained only by the limits of our imagination," Yamamoto wrote.
