F5 refreshes brand by dropping ‘Networks’ from name, marking ‘huge change’ in its business

F5 Networks will be just F5 from now on.

The Seattle-based company, which originally made its mark in networking technology, said this week that it’s dropping the “Networks” from its name, reflecting its expanded focus on delivering and securing applications.

“Now, dropping a single word from our name might not seem like such a big deal. But to us, this change is huge,” writes Mika Yamamoto, F5 chief marketing and customer experience officer, in a post announcing the streamlined name. “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.”

As part of its expansion beyond its traditional hardware business, F5 has made a series of major acquisitions under CEO François Locoh-Donou, who joined the company in 2017. F5 has spent more than $2 billion to absorb a variety of cloud and security software companies.

F5 announced a $670 million deal for Nginx, the company behind the widely-used web and application server technology, in March 2019; and completed its $1 billion purchase of Shape Security in January 2020. It acquired cloud computing company Volterra for $500 million in January.

More recently, F5 bought Boston-based cloud monitoring company Threat Stack for $68 million.

Software revenue grew by 37% to $500 million in its recently completed fiscal year, out of $2.5 billion overall.

F5 was founded in 1996. Headquartered in a 2-year-old downtown Seattle skyscraper, the company has a total of 6,461 employees globally, including more than 1,400 in the Seattle area.

Previously: Applications everywhere: F5 Networks’ CEO on the surprising evolution of apps and the cloud