Former Quest Software Inc. and Dell insider Steve Dickson came out of retirement to take the top post at one of Orange County’s fastest-growing software companies.
Irvine-based Netwrix Corp., which makes IT auditing and compliance software, has seen demand jump the past few years among small and midsize businesses aiming to mitigate security risks in an era of prolific mass commercial breaches and identity theft.
“We’re adding hundreds and hundreds of customers every quarter,” said Dickson, who was named chief executive in March after a short stint on the board. “This company is really just taking off.”
Last year, Netwrix grew customer count by more than a third, adding more than 1,500, including Lima Memorial Health System, World Travel Holdings and Tax Defense Network LLC, to its base of well-known brands, such as Irvine-based Habit Restaurants Inc., Belkin International Inc. and Sony Pictures.
The mix and continued demand will generate nearly $40 million in revenue this year, on pace to grow the top line more than 30%, as it has the past few years. Netwrix again made Deloitte’s 2017 Technology Fast 500 with a 140% three-year revenue growth rate. It’s in one of the hottest tech segments.
Software firms dominate the Deloitte Tech 500 list at 59%. Fellow Irvine software and cybersecurity outfit Cylance Inc. ranked 10th in North America with a 13,057% three-year revenue growth surge.
Netwrix’ core licensing software offerings are billed as detecting security threats; automating auditing and reporting tasks; and providing security intelligence on critical changes, data access and sensitivity, and system configurations in IT, as well as ensuring audit and security programs meet industry and regulatory standards, which like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, Sarbanes-Oxley and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.
“Increasingly, larger companies are adopting this and using it for more enterprise type needs,” Dickson said of the product suite.
Netwrix has hired more than 20 people this year at its 300 Spectrum headquarters, boosting local employment to about 70. It employs about 300 companywide, boosted by a recent international investment push in the U.K., Germany, France, Spain and Scandinavia.
Netwrix was founded in 2006 by Michael Fimin and Alex Vovk, who relinquished their management roles in March when Dickson took the top post. Fimin and Vovk remain advisers.
The two cashed in last year when Washington, D.C.-based Updata Partners led a $55 million Series A round for Netwrix, providing a runway for accelerated global expansion and product development.
Dickson joined Netwrix as a director about a year ago after cutting ties with Dell in 2016.
He joined the computer giant in 2012 after the Round Rock, Texas-based company took Quest Software in Aliso Viejo private in a $2.4 billion deal, putting then-Chief Executive Vinny Smith on the doorstep of billionaire status.
Smith used some of the proceeds to establish Newport Beach-based Toba Capital, now OC’s largest VC fund, with more than $1 billion invested in about 75 companies.
At Quest, Dickson held several executive positions, including senior vice president roles for Windows Management; Identity and Access Management; and products and marketing.
He stayed at Dell for four years after the Quest sale, which provided a foundation to build Dell’s growing software business in a diversification effort. Dickson most recently served as vice president and general manager of Dell’s Windows Platform Management business, a unit he helped grow from a few million in annual revenue at Quest to more than $400 million at Dell.
