Commvault Celebrates 20 Years in NJ and 10 Years as a Public Company

Esther Surden

Publisher & Editor, NJTechWeekly.com

On Thursday, Commvault officials and 30 software developers rang the closing bell at the NASDAQ stock market. | Chiristopher Galluzzo

Commvault, the  tech company that built its headquarters on 55 acres in the former Ft. Monmouth area of Tinton Falls, threw itself a party Sept. 23 to celebrate the company’s 20th anniversary and its 10th anniversary as a public company.

Similar celebrations took place at Commvault offices throughout the world.

Employees poured into the company’s atrium to hear a proclamation from Gerald M. Turning, mayor of Tinton Falls, and some words about the occasion from Commvault Chairman, President and CEO N. Robert Hammer and COO Alan G. Bunte.

Commvault employs about 2,600 people in Tinton Falls and around the world. Officials told NJTechWeekly.com that the company is the largest software employer in New Jersey, aside from Verizon.

Among other accomplishments, the mayor’s proclamation mentioned the company’s relationship with High Technology High School (Lincroft), which includes scholarships, internships and mentoring to help develop the next generation of software engineers.

In his remarks, Hammer noted that most tech companies aren’t around after 20 years. “That we are is a testament to a good clear vision of the startup focusing on data.”  Bunte reflected that 20 years ago, the company had roughly $600,000 in the bank. “That would cover one and a half payrolls” today, he told the assembled group.

Although the market for data management has changed significantly over the course of the company’s history, Bunte said, “One thing has stayed the same. People still have a hard time finding their data, getting their data, recovering their data, etcetera. It’s been an interesting ride.”

During the event, NJTechWeekly.com asked Hammer where he sees the company going in the next five years. “We have a good solid foundation for growth,” he told us. “We are a data information management company, and our core business is around the management of data.

“Then we are extending that out to data creation, business process automation and analytics. In the future, we will be extending into software-defined storage and process-automation analytics. And with what we will do with our core [business], we can significantly grow the company over the next five years.”

Bunte added that his biggest challenge in the next five years will be to keep innovation going. “Size is the enemy of innovation. My job will be to keep the innovative culture and spirit and passion within the company as we continue to grow both in terms of revenue and in terms of customers.”

Commvault has a very employee-oriented culture, he said. “We do things only in the interest of customers, so we try to keep that presence pertinent. Then we are continually innovating, not just product and technology, but processes and ideas on how to run the company.” Trying to keep the pace of innovation going over the next five years will continue to challenge the company, he said, but Commvault is up to the challenge.

Asked if the company has enough space at its headquarters to accommodate the planned growth, Hammer noted that there wasn’t enough space in the building, but that there is enough space on the 55-acre campus.

 “We’re not moving. When we built this campus, we built it to triple the size [of our company] on this property.”





Esther Surden is Publisher and Editor of NJTechWeekly, and a contributor to Philly Tech News. This article originally appeared in NJTechWeekly, and is republished here with her permission.