Informatica goes public again as data management grows
Informatica has transformed in recent years from an on-premises software vendor to a SaaS-based subscription model in the cloud as new services for data have emerged.
Informatica once again became a public company on Oct. 27, listing on the New York Stock Exchange with the symbol INFA.
The stock exchange listing for Informatica marks a return to the public markets after the vendor was taken private in a $5.3 billion deal in 2015.
Informatica was founded in 1993 and first went public on the NASDAQ in 1999.
The vendor has undergone significant transition in recent years, under the direction of CEO Amit Walia, who took the top job at Informatica in January 2020. A key focus under Walia's direction has been a move toward the Informatica Intelligent Cloud to deliver data services.
When Informatica went private in 2015, it was at a time when big data was fast becoming popular and it was starting to become clear that the future was in going to the cloud, said Hyoun Park, an analyst at Amalgam Insights.
The adjustments that Informatica needed to make, such as moving perpetual license business to a subscription model, weren't aligned to the quarterly demands of the public market at that time, in Park's view.
"Going public indicates that Informatica's investors, Permira and CPPIB, feel comfortable that the current product portfolio is mature and market-ready as cloud-based products and that the go-to-market capabilities are poised for growth sufficient to justify an IPO," Park said.
A growing enterprise data management portfolio
Park noted that Informatica was already prominent in data management when it went private and has maintained that position while expanding its capabilities.
Data is now a vital asset for all businesses, and the use of data separates market leaders from also-rans.
Hyoun ParkAnalyst, Amalgam Insights
Among the recent product updates from the vendor are cloud data governance and data catalog capabilities, introduced in July. Informatica has also been improving the Master Data Management capabilities in its Customer 360 platform.
"Data is now a vital asset for all businesses, and the use of data separates market leaders from also-rans," Park said. "Informatica's opportunity comes from its breadth of offerings all under one umbrella as Informatica continues to be a cloud-neutral, analytics-neutral and machine-learning-neutral solution for supporting data."
Kevin Petrie, an analyst at Eckerson Group, noted that Informatica's data management capabilities are not tied to a single cloud platform. Petrie said Informatica offers enterprises the ability to manage the lifecycle of their data across heterogeneous hybrid and multi-cloud environments.
Over time, it will be interesting to see how competitive dynamics play out as startups emerge with new data science platforms, he said. With roots in the data warehousing world, Petrie said Informatica must continue to innovate to stay ahead of market trends.
"Informatica blazes a distinct path in the data management industry," Petrie said. "Unlike most point-product startups, it has a full suite of products that integrate, manage and govern data for analytics and operations."
