Autonomy Corporation
Encyclopedia
Autonomy is a multinational
enterprise software
company with joint headquarters in Cambridge
, United Kingdom, and San Francisco, USA and a subsidiary of Hewlett-Packard
. The company uses a combination of technologies born out of research at the University of Cambridge. It develops a variety of enterprise search
and knowledge management
applications using adaptive pattern recognition
techniques centered on Bayesian inference
in conjunction with traditional methods. In March 2009, it acquired the enterprise content management
firm Interwoven
, now Autonomy Interwoven and Autonomy iManage. Formerly an independent company, Autonomy was acquired by Hewlett-Packard in October 2011.
, England by Dr Michael Lynch and Richard Gaunt in 1996 as a spin-off from Cambridge Neurodynamics.
Autonomy floated in 1998 on the EASDAQ exchange at a share price of approximately 30p. At the height of the "dot com bubble", the peak share price was £30.
In December 2005 Autonomy acquired Verity, Inc., one of its main competitors, for approximately $500m. In 2005 Autonomy also acquired Neurodynamics.
In May 2007 after exercising an option to buy a stake of technology start up, Blinkx
Inc, and combining it with its consumer division, Autonomy floated Blinkx on a valuation of $250m.
In July 2007, it acquired Zantaz, an email archiving and litigation support company, for $375M.
In October 2007, Autonomy acquired Meridio Holdings Ltd, a UK company based in Northern Ireland
that specialised in Records Management software, for £20m.
In January 2009, it acquired Interwoven
, a niche provider of enterprise content management software, for $775m.
In June 2010, the company announced that it was to acquire the Information Governance business of CA Technologies. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.
On 5 May 2011, the Mercedes GP
Formula One
team announced an $8 million sponsorship deal with Autonomy, and on 8 July 2010 Tottenham Hotspur FC announced a two year sponsorship deal with Autonomy for their Premier League kit. For the 2011-12 season Spurs' Premier League shirt will feature Autonomy's Augmented Reality
technology Aurasma
.
On 16 May 2011, it acquired Iron Mountain Digital, a pioneer in E-discovery and online backup solutions provider, for $380M.
On 18 August 2011, Hewlett Packard announced that it will purchase the company for $42.11 per share, around $10.2B. The transaction was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both HP and Autonomy. The Autonomy board of directors also has unanimously recommended its shareholders accept the offer. On 3 October 2011 HP closed the deal with over 87% of Autonomy shares acquired.
Autonomy's technology attempts to understand any form of unstructured information, whether text
, voice
, or video, and based on that understanding perform automatic operations such as but not limited to, "you like that, you'd like this" on the information.
partners and more than 400 vendors and integrators, numbering among them are companies such as Citrix, EDS
, Novell
and Symantec
.
Multinational corporation
A multi national corporation or enterprise , is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation...
enterprise software
Enterprise software
Enterprise software, also known as enterprise application software , is software used in organizations, such as in a business or government, contrary to software chosen by individuals...
company with joint headquarters in Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, United Kingdom, and San Francisco, USA and a subsidiary of Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
. The company uses a combination of technologies born out of research at the University of Cambridge. It develops a variety of enterprise search
Enterprise search
Enterprise search is the practice of making content from multiple enterprise-type sources, such as databases and intranets, searchable to a defined audience.-Enterprise search summary:...
and knowledge management
Knowledge management
Knowledge management comprises a range of strategies and practices used in an organization to identify, create, represent, distribute, and enable adoption of insights and experiences...
applications using adaptive pattern recognition
Pattern recognition
In machine learning, pattern recognition is the assignment of some sort of output value to a given input value , according to some specific algorithm. An example of pattern recognition is classification, which attempts to assign each input value to one of a given set of classes...
techniques centered on Bayesian inference
Bayesian inference
In statistics, Bayesian inference is a method of statistical inference. It is often used in science and engineering to determine model parameters, make predictions about unknown variables, and to perform model selection...
in conjunction with traditional methods. In March 2009, it acquired the enterprise content management
Enterprise content management
Enterprise Content Management is a formalized means of organizing and storing an organization's documents, and other content, that relate to the organization's processes...
firm Interwoven
Interwoven
Interwoven is a line of Content Management Systems and related products. Previously a stand-alone company headquartered in San Jose, California, USA and founded in 1995, it was acquired on March 17, 2009 by Autonomy...
, now Autonomy Interwoven and Autonomy iManage. Formerly an independent company, Autonomy was acquired by Hewlett-Packard in October 2011.
History
Autonomy was founded in CambridgeCambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, England by Dr Michael Lynch and Richard Gaunt in 1996 as a spin-off from Cambridge Neurodynamics.
Autonomy floated in 1998 on the EASDAQ exchange at a share price of approximately 30p. At the height of the "dot com bubble", the peak share price was £30.
In December 2005 Autonomy acquired Verity, Inc., one of its main competitors, for approximately $500m. In 2005 Autonomy also acquired Neurodynamics.
In May 2007 after exercising an option to buy a stake of technology start up, Blinkx
Blinkx
Blinkx is an Internet search engine for video and audio content, headquartered in San Francisco, California and the UK that allows searching and classification of audio files, video clips and streaming media such as Internet television and video on demand...
Inc, and combining it with its consumer division, Autonomy floated Blinkx on a valuation of $250m.
In July 2007, it acquired Zantaz, an email archiving and litigation support company, for $375M.
In October 2007, Autonomy acquired Meridio Holdings Ltd, a UK company based in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
that specialised in Records Management software, for £20m.
In January 2009, it acquired Interwoven
Interwoven
Interwoven is a line of Content Management Systems and related products. Previously a stand-alone company headquartered in San Jose, California, USA and founded in 1995, it was acquired on March 17, 2009 by Autonomy...
, a niche provider of enterprise content management software, for $775m.
In June 2010, the company announced that it was to acquire the Information Governance business of CA Technologies. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.
On 5 May 2011, the Mercedes GP
Mercedes GP
Mercedes GP Petronas Formula One Team, the trading name of Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Limited, is a British-based Formula One racing team and constructor, owned by Mercedes-Benz and racing under a German licence since the 2010 season....
Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
team announced an $8 million sponsorship deal with Autonomy, and on 8 July 2010 Tottenham Hotspur FC announced a two year sponsorship deal with Autonomy for their Premier League kit. For the 2011-12 season Spurs' Premier League shirt will feature Autonomy's Augmented Reality
Augmented reality
Augmented reality is a live, direct or indirect, view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data. It is related to a more general concept called mediated reality, in which a view of reality is...
technology Aurasma
Aurasma
Aurasma is an augmented reality platform created by Autonomy Corporation. Primarily designed for 3G and 4G mobile devices it uses the device's video camera to recognise pre-trained images and overlay an image or video so that the video tracks as the camera is moved.-History:The technology was...
.
On 16 May 2011, it acquired Iron Mountain Digital, a pioneer in E-discovery and online backup solutions provider, for $380M.
On 18 August 2011, Hewlett Packard announced that it will purchase the company for $42.11 per share, around $10.2B. The transaction was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both HP and Autonomy. The Autonomy board of directors also has unanimously recommended its shareholders accept the offer. On 3 October 2011 HP closed the deal with over 87% of Autonomy shares acquired.
Products
The main technology, 'Intelligent Data Operating Layer' (IDOL), allows search and processing of text taken from database, audio, video or text files or streams. The processing of such information by IDOL is referred to by Autonomy as Meaning-Based Computing.Autonomy's technology attempts to understand any form of unstructured information, whether text
Written language
A written language is the representation of a language by means of a writing system. Written language is an invention in that it must be taught to children, who will instinctively learn or create spoken or gestural languages....
, voice
Voice
Voice may refer to:* Human voice* Voice control or voice activation* Writer's voice* Voice acting* Voice vote* Voice message-In film:* Voice , a 2005 South Korean film* The Voice , a 2010 Turkish horror film directed by Ümit Ünal...
, or video, and based on that understanding perform automatic operations such as but not limited to, "you like that, you'd like this" on the information.
Customers
Autonomy also has over 400 OEMOriginal Equipment Manufacturer
An original equipment manufacturer, or OEM, manufactures products or components that are purchased by a company and retailed under that purchasing company's brand name. OEM refers to the company that originally manufactured the product. When referring to automotive parts, OEM designates a...
partners and more than 400 vendors and integrators, numbering among them are companies such as Citrix, EDS
EDS
- Education :* Educational specialist , a terminal academic degree in the U.S.* Episcopal Divinity School, an Episcopal Seminary in Cambridge, Massachusetts* Evansville Day School, an independent college-prep school in Evansville, Indiana- Politics :...
, Novell
Novell
Novell, Inc. is a multinational software and services company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Attachmate Group. It specializes in network operating systems, such as Novell NetWare; systems management solutions, such as Novell ZENworks; and collaboration solutions, such as Novell Groupwise...
and Symantec
Symantec
Symantec Corporation is the largest maker of security software for computers. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and is a Fortune 500 company and a member of the S&P 500 stock market index.-History:...
.
Offices
Autonomy has twin head offices in Cambridge, UK and San Francisco, USA. They also have major offices in the US, the UK, Canada, France, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Germany and smaller offices in India and throughout Europe and Latin America.Senior management
The Company's Board includes:- Dr Michael Richard LynchMichael Richard LynchDr Michael Richard Lynch OBE, FREng is the co-founder and Chief Executive of Autonomy Corporation. His entrepreneurship is associated with Silicon Fen. He is a leader in the area of computer understanding of unstructured information, an area which is becoming known as meaning-based computing...
- Richard Gaunt
- Sushovan Hussain
- Barry Ariko
- John McMonigall
- Richard PerleRichard PerleRichard Norman Perle is an American political advisor, consultant, and lobbyist who began his career in government, a senior staff member to Senator Henry “Scoop” Jackson on the Senate Armed Services Committee in the 1970’s...