Symark was founded in 1985 as a VAX/VMS utility software company in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley. Its name is derived from the initials of its founders, Bob Sommers and Doug Yarrow. Symark was also a client-server computing vendor, before later acquiring a license for the UNIX security product UPM and rebranding their version PowerBroker. Symark relocated to Westlake Village, California, then again to Agoura Hills. The company was focused on identity, access, and password management for privileged users on UNIX systems. From 2003—2008 the company expanded in Spain, Portugal, Japan and Latin America. During the same time period they also grew almost 300 percent and were one of the fastest growing private companies in the Los Angeles area.
The original BeyondTrust
In 2003, AutoProf introduced the AutoProf Policy maker, which was the first commercial product to build upon Microsoft's built-in Group Policy Objects to make common tasks like mapping network drives or sharing printer connections easier. In 2005, AutoProf grew 90% in revenue over the previous year and changed the company name to DesktopStandard. Four million desktops were under management of DesktopStandard's software across 3,500 customers. Between 2003—2005, DesktopStandard added six products to their portfolio for RBAC, password management, and identity access management on Windows. In 2006, Microsoft acquired most of DesktopStandard's products, and DesktopStandard's CEO formed a new company around the remaining Policy Maker Application Security product.
Acquisitions
2009: Symark acquired the Windows-based business of BeyondTrust in 2009 for approximately $20 million and they adopted BeyondTrust as the new company name. 2011: BeyondTrust acquired software from Likewise Software. The acquisition expanded its portfolio of "inside perimeter" security capabilities for Windows and Unix-based systems to include authentication and auditing management for cross-platform and cloud environments. May 2012: BeyondTrust Acquired Vulnerability Management Pioneer eEye Digital Security. December 2012: BeyondTrust Acquired Blackbird Group. September 2014:Veritas Capital acquires BeyondTrust for $310 million. October 2018: Bomgar acquires BeyondTrust from Veritas.
Bomgar
Bomgar was a remote support provider that allows support technicians to remotely connect to end-user systems through firewalls from their computer or mobile device. Using the Bomgar Representative Console, technology support professionals can access and control systems and devices remotely, including personal computers, smartphones, tablets, servers, switches, point-of-sale systems and others. The company originated when Joel Bomgar developed his own remote support solutions to cut back on wasted hours he spent travelling while working as a support professional for a local company. In June 2003, he set up a one-page, static website selling his own, home-grown remote access solution, calling it ExpertVNC. Soon thereafter, his two college friends, Nathan McNeill and Patrick Norman, joined Bomgar as co-founders. In May 2004, ExpertVNC changed its name to NetworkStreaming. In the next month it changed its cloud-based product to an appliance model, differentiating itself from other similar remote support solutions. In February 2007, NetworkStreaming underwent a significant brand change, and the company name was changed to Bomgar along with the founder's surname – as a simplification of this maiden name Bomgaars. Bomgar's first Private Equity investors, TA Accociates, placed a majority investment in Bomgar in May 2014. In April 2018, Francisco Partners announced that it acquired Bomgar from Thoma Bravo, which owned Bomgar since June 2016. Financial details of this deal were not disclosed. Bomgar now operates under the name BeyondTrust.
