Splunk

Splunk was founded in 2003 by Erik Swan, Rob Das, and Michael Baum and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. The company develops software for searching, monitoring, and analyzing machine-generated big data, with primary applications in security operations, IT monitoring, and observability. Cisco Systems completed its acquisition of Splunk in March 2024 for approximately $28 billion.

Splunk's core product, the Splunk Platform, ingests and indexes log and machine data from IT infrastructure, enabling real-time search, visualization, and alerting. Its security portfolio includes Splunk Enterprise Security, a SIEM product, and Splunk SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation and Response), acquired via Phantom Cyber in 2018. The company also offers Splunk Observability Cloud, targeting infrastructure monitoring and application performance management. Customers include large enterprises and government agencies across financial services, healthcare, retail, and public sector verticals.

Splunk went public on the Nasdaq under the ticker SPLK in April 2012, raising approximately $229 million in its IPO. Over subsequent years the company made several acquisitions, including SignalFx in 2019 for approximately $1.05 billion and TruSTAR in 2021. At the time of the Cisco acquisition close in March 2024, Splunk employed roughly 8,000 people and had reported annual recurring revenue exceeding $3.7 billion for fiscal year 2024.