Through The Years: A Timeline Of Symantec's Transformation

Symantec's Ongoing Transformation

Symantec has been on a transformative journey over the past ten years. That transformation has included acquisitions (and divestitures of those acquisitions), fresh leadership faces, new product lines, and, most recently, blockbuster buys that position it in new security markets. Those changes have shaped the course of an evolving security vendor that is looking to get ahead of industry trends and face a new wave of security startups. As part of CRN's June issue, take a look back through the long line of events – both good and challenging - that brought Symantec to where it is today, and might provide some hints as to where the security vendor is heading next.

December 17, 2004

Symantec announces plans to acquire Veritas for $13.5 billion. The merger would complete in the summer of the following year and would bring the security vendor into the data storage market.

October 10, 2006

Symantec unveils new strategy, called Security 2.0. The new strategy put a big emphasis on integrated security, and the company said it would move to integrate its software products, policy management, global services, and multi-layer DLP solutions to meet enterprise customer needs in a more dynamic threat landscape.

November 17, 2008

Symantec CEO John Thompson (pictured) announces retirement. He is replaced in April by COO Enrique Salem.

July 25, 2012

Salem (pictured) steps down as CEO and Symantec announces Chairman of the Board Steve Bennett as the new President and CEO. The board said the decision was not due to any event, but that it felt Symantec was "underperforming against the opportunity" in the market.

January 23, 2013

Symantec updates its strategy again, announcing a new strategy to meet "next-generation needs" in security. The company said it would invest in R&D efforts and strategic partnerships around integrated, higher-value solutions around Mobile Workforce Productivity, Norton Protection, Norton Cloud, Information Security Services, Identity/Content-Aware Security Gateway, Data Center Security, Business Continuity, Integrated Backup, Cloud-Based Information Management, and Object Storage Platform.

Symantec also announced a two-year cost cutting plan, including layoffs that reports at the time said could amount to 8 percent of the company's workforce, or around 1,700 positions.

March 20, 2014

Symantec fires CEO Steve Bennett (pictured), saying the executive helped drive cost reduction and organizational realignment, but Symantec needed a new leader to "drive the next stage of Symantec's product innovation and growth." Symantec appoints board member Michael Brown as interim CEO.

September 25, 2014

Michael Brown named permanent CEO of Symantec.

October 9, 2014

Symantec announces its intention to split into two publicly traded companies, one focused on security and the other on information management, a move that essentially would undo the company's earlier acquisition of Veritas.

August 11, 2015

Symantec announces instead of a split that it will sell its Veritas storage business to private equity firm The Carlyle Group for $8 billion in cash. The purchase price was later lowered to $7.4 billion.

February 4, 2016

Symantec announces a $500 million investment from Silver Lake, the same private equity firm known for its participation in the blockbuster move to take Dell private in 2013.

April 28, 2016

CEO Michael Brown announces he will step down from top executive role when a replacement is found. Symantec said the departure would help position the company for the "next phase of growth" after its Veritas divestiture, cost structure improvement, and new enterprise security strategy.

May 2016

Symantec announces layoff plans to cut 10 percent of staff, around 1,200 positions, as part of a $400 million cost-cutting plan.

June 12, 2016

Symantec announces it intends to acquire Blue Coat Systems in a $4.65 billion deal that adds a robust set of cloud security capabilities, including secure web gateway and cloud access security brokerage solutions. Blue Coat CEO Greg Clark (pictured) was also announced as Symantec's next CEO.

August 1, 2016

Symantec closes Blue Coat acquisition, and officially appoints Clark as CEO. It also appoints former Blue Coat President and COO Michael Fey (pictured) as president and COO of Symantec. Clark said the milestone "marks the beginning of a new era in cybersecurity."

November 1, 2016

Symantec announces Symantec Endpoint Protection 14, bringing next-generation endpoint security capabilities to its endpoint protection platform, including machine learning, artificial intelligence, and advanced threat protection.

November 20, 2016

Symantec announces $2.3 billion acquisition of LifeLock to add identity protection and remediation services to its Norton consumer security portfolio. The acquisition completes in February 2017.