webMethods

webMethods is an enterprise software company, acquired by Software AG, focused on application integration, business process integration and B2B partner integration. Founded in 1996, the company pioneered the use of web services to connect software applications together within a single organization and across the Internet. In 2000, the company went public on the NASDAQ in the most successful software IPO to date, based on investor interest and first day share price appreciation. In 2002, the company was named by Deloitte as the fastest-growing software company in North America over the period 1998 to 2002. In 2007 webMethods was acquired by Software AG for $546 million, and made a subsidiary of that company. In 2010 the webMethods division of Software AG recorded over $668 million in revenues. Software AG retained the webMethods name, and uses it as a brand to identify a software suite encompassing process improvement, SOA enablement, IT modernization and business and partner integration.