1982 headquarters 6455 city west parkway eden prairie mn key people christopher d. heim ceo products it infrastructure software for systems and network management business intelligence security and compliance number of employees 280 2014 1 parent h.i.g. capital website http www.helpsystems.com helpsystems llc is an eden prairie mn based it software company working in the areas of systems and network management business intelligence security and compliance for ibm i unix linux and windows environments . 2 the company is recognized as the biggest independent ibm i software vendor in the world . 3 the company also has us offices in chicago il hanover nh kent wa los angeles ca raleigh nc and rochester mn and international offices in sheffield and fleet uk and melbourne australia . 1 4 5 6 7 8 history edit helpsystems originally known as help 38 was founded in 1982 by dick jacobson . 9 an engineer with advanced circuits ac in minnetonka mn jacobson had written a program called robot 38 used to provide it automation for the ibm system 38 . the program was originally designed to offset the computer costs for ac . in 1988 when ibm replaced the system 38 with the as 400 the company became known as help systems . 10 the company was spun off in the late 80 s after ac was sold to honeywell . 1 in 1991 in response to ibm s introduction of the as 400 three years earlier helpsystems introduced robot console robot alert and robot network a suite of tools for message management and escalation for the as 400 . 11 in 1992 helpsystems became the first software company in the united states to be certified under the iso 9001 standard . 9 in 2005 helpsystems was bought by boston based investment firm summit partners . 12 in october 2006 helpsystems acquired advanced systems concepts asc the developer of sequel reporting and business intelligence tools for the i5 os and os 400 platform . 12 13 helpsystems created the sequel software division to support the product . 14 in august 2007 the company announced version 1.0 of the robot security suite of products supporting ibm s i5 os systems . 15 in september 2007 helpsystems was acquired by the boston based private equity firm audax group . 12 16 in january 2008 helpsystems expanded their international presence in europe australia and new zealand by purchasing one of their partners and product distributors evelogic group of england . 12 17 in august 2008 helpsystems bought os 400 and ibm i security and compliance software vendor powertech to complement robot security and the products were eventually combined under the powertech name . 18 in october 2008 they followed up by purchasing bytware a provider of the standguard brand of security management and anti virus tools for ibm devices . 19 20 in 2009 helpsystems modified robot by then called robot schedule to support windows osx linux and unix and called the new software robot schedule enterprise . 21 in 2010 robot schedule enterprise evolved and led to the launch of skybot scheduler 22 23 which was turned into a separate division . 24 in may 2011 skybot software expanded their customer base by acquiring fleet uk based open systems management a creator of job scheduling and it process automation tools for windows unix and linux platforms . 25 in june 2011 helpsystems bought the datathread db2 400 monitoring product from innovatum and it became part of the powertech line . 26 in april 2012 summit partners bought back a majority stake in helpsystems . 12 in june 2012 helpsystems purchased uk based safestone a security and compliance software developer for the ibm i. 27 in october 2012 helpsystems bought gillingham uk based ccss the developer of qsystem monitor qmessage monitor and qremote control systems monitoring and performance management tools for the ibm i server . 28 in january 2013 helpsystems announced the acquisition of new hampshire based dartware and their network management product intermapper one of the first network mapping tools ever created . 29 30 in april 2013 helpsystems acquired ibm s showcase business intelligence products and added the software to its sequel software division . 31 in april 2014 the company acquired los angeles based network automation the developer of the automate line of workflow mapping and automation software . at the same time the company announced its robot network web user interface which allowed users to see ibm i server performance information from a mobile phone or any device with a web browser . 32 in july 2014 helpsystems acquired minneapolis based document management software company rjs software and the data warehousing product from australia based coglin mill . coglin mill s data warehouse product rodin was added to the sequel product line . 33 after this acquisition the company was acknowledged by new york based it publisher it jungle as the biggest independent ibm i vendor in the world . 3 in january 2015 helpsystems bought peterborough england based halcyon a developer of software for multi platform systems management and announced its intention to operate halcyon as an independent company for the time being . 34 in march 2015 helpsystems received media coverage for conducting a survey of ibm midrange shops in conjunction with itjungle.com and the european publishing company powerwire . the results were released entitled 2015 ibm i marketplace survey results and included topics such as modernization hardware and operating system upgrades data growth it initiatives staffing and workforce dynamics and the perceived future of ibm i. 35 in june 2015 helpsystems bought ibm i security vendor skyview partners a deal which included skyview s team of security experts . 36 in august 2015 it was announced that the company was being acquired by florida based private equity firm h.i.g. capital for an undisclosed amount . 37 references edit a b c when 100m just isn t enough . tech.mn . 2014 04 21 . retrieved 2015 03 09 . company overview of helpsystems llc . bloomberg.com . retrieved 2015 03 09 . a b ibm i job market not all doom and gloom . itjungle.com . 2014 08 11 . retrieved 2015 03 09 . powertech group . manta.com . retrieved 2015 03 09 . helpsystems acquires uk s halcyon software . tcbmag.com . 2015 01 08 . retrieved 2015 03 09 . dartwell llc . cortera.com . retrieved 2015 03 09 . helpsystems acquires uk s halcyon software . tcbmag.com . 2015 01 08 . retrieved 2015 03 09 . help systems buys safestone to boost power systems security . itjungle.com . 2012 06 29 . retrieved 2015 03 09 . a b help systems celebrates its 20th too pdf . iprodeveloper.com . 2002 06 01 . retrieved 2015 03 09 . happy anniversary to the as 400 . helpsystems.com . 2014 05 13 . retrieved 2015 03 16 . help systems celebrates its 20th too . itjungle.com . 2003 11 08 . retrieved 2015 03 09 . a b c d e summit partners sells help systems to audax group . itjungle.com . 2007 10 01 . retrieved 2015 03 09 . bytware bought by help systems and audax . itjungle.com . 2008 09 30 . retrieved 2015 03 09 . help systems buys showcase bi products from ibm . itjungle.com . 2013 04 02 . retrieved 2015 03 09 . help systems launches comprehensive security i5 os suite . itjungle.com . 2007 08 28 . retrieved 2015 03 09 . new product lines inspire growth for a successful niche market leader . audaxprivateequity.com . retrieved 2015 03 09 . help systems buys international distributor . audaxprivateequity.com . 2008 01 08 . retrieved 2015 03 17 . help systems powertech . corumgroup.com . retrieved 2015 03 09 . summit partners acquires control of help systems again . itjungle.com . 2012 04 23 . retrieved 2015 03 09 . bytware bought by help systems and audax . itjungle.com . 2008 09 30 . retrieved 2015 03 09 . product news robot schedule enterprise . ibmsystemsmagazine.com . 2009 12 01 . retrieved 2015 03 09 . enterprise schedulers robot vs. skybot . helpsystems.com . retrieved 2015 03 09 . about skybot . helpsystems.com . retrieved 2015 03 06 . ibm i where helpsystems got its start . helpsystems.com . retrieved 2015 03 09 . help systems buys safestone to boost power systems security . itjungle.com . 2012 06 29 . retrieved 2015 03 09 . help systems buys database monitoring tool from innovatum . itjungle.com . 2011 06 13 . retrieved 2015 03 09 . help systems acquires safestone technologies ltd. . securemyi.com . 2012 07 10 . retrieved 2015 03 09 . ccss improves visibility and control of message and performance monitoring on the ibm i with latest release . ibmsystemsmag.com . 2013 09 24 . retrieved 2015 03 09 . dartware acquired by help systems congratulations . flowtraq.com . 2013 01 01 . retrieved 2015 03 09 . help systems buys dartware to build out heterogeneous monitoring . itjungle.com . 2014 01 14 . retrieved 2015 03 09 . help systems buys ccss for systems management expertise . itjungle.com . 2012 10 22 . retrieved 2015 03 09 . helpsystems launches mobile initiatives acquires nai for workflow automation . itjungle.com . 2014 04 22 . retrieved 2015 03 09 . helpsystems grows with rjs and coglin mill acquisitions . itjungle.com . 2014 07 07 . retrieved 2015 03 09 . helpsystems buys halcyon software . powerwire.eu . 2015 01 09 . retrieved 2015 03 09 . what s up in the ibm i marketplace . itjungle.com . 2015 03 09 . retrieved 2015 03 25 . helpsystems adds skyview partners to its security assets . itjungle.com . 2015 06 08 . retrieved 2015 06 10 . helpsystems acquired by private equity giant h.i.g. capital . itjungle.com . 2015 08 31 . retrieved 2015 09 04 . external links edit official website automate website halcyon software website rjs software systems website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title helpsystems & oldid 743567633 categories software companies based in minnesotacompanies based in minneapolissoftware companies established in 19821982 establishments in minnesota navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view 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