Cast Iron

About Cast Iron

Cast Iron Systems, founded in 2001 and initially known as IronHide, established itself as a key player in the enterprise software market by addressing a critical challenge of the burgeoning cloud era: application integration. The company, which was headquartered in Mountain View, California, focused on providing solutions that seamlessly connected cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) applications with on-premise systems. This addressed a significant pain point for midsize and large enterprises looking to adopt cloud services without undertaking complex, time-consuming custom coding projects.

The company's core offering was a complete integration platform available in multiple deployment models to suit different client needs: a physical hardware appliance, a virtual appliance, and a multi-tenant Integration-as-a-Service (IaaS) cloud offering. This platform featured pre-configured solutions and a drag-and-drop interface, enabling rapid integration that could be completed in days rather than months. It allowed businesses to link cloud applications from providers like Salesforce.com, Amazon, and NetSuite with their internal enterprise systems such as SAP and JD Edwards. The business model centered on selling these integration solutions to a diverse client base that included notable names like Allianz, Dow Jones, Time Warner, and The Sports Authority.

After securing approximately $77.3 million in venture capital funding, Cast Iron Systems demonstrated considerable market traction. This success culminated in a major milestone on May 3, 2010, when the company was acquired by IBM. At the time of the acquisition, Cast Iron Systems had around 75 employees, and its technology was integrated into IBM's WebSphere software portfolio to enhance IBM's cloud and hybrid-cloud capabilities. The acquisition provided IBM with a proven solution to help enterprises bridge the gap between their internal data centers and public cloud applications.