User:Maqsood BBG/sandbox

Blackbird Group, Inc. was an Enterprise software company headquartered in New York City, New York which developed, marketed and supported software that helped companies and organizations with large-scale, Windows-centric networks manage and audit Active Directory, Windows File System, Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft SQL Server environments. Its products were used by organizations to manage both regulatory and corporate Compliance (e.g., HIPPA, FISMA, GLBA, PCI, SOX, etc.), as well as Data Protection requirements. At the end of 2012, Blackbird Group was acquired by security solution software vendor BeyondTrust.

History
Blackbird Group was founded in 2002 in Hamburg, Germany by Christian Ehrenthal. The following year the business was moved to New York City. The company initially focused on recovery and backup solutions for enterprises using Novell eDirectory services, becoming a Novell Preferred Technology Partner. In 2008, the company shifted its focus to compliance and systems management solutions for Microsoft-centric environments, quickly emerging as a leader in its segment, amassing over 20 million seats under its management, securing a significant number of Fortune 500 companies as its customers and being chosen by Microsoft as a member of the U.S. ISV Managed Partner Program in the High Potential ISV Group. It was particularly strong in the financial, healthcare and government sectors.

The company was completely bootstrapped, took no venture capital investment, and experienced continual profitable growth from its start-up until its successful acquisition by BeyondTrust on December 12, 2012. BeyondTrust is a security solution vendor providing Context-Aware Security Intelligence software, listing NASA, NBC, ExxonMobile, Barclays Capital and Bank of America among its customers. It is funded by Insight Venture Partners, a leading global private equity and venture capital firm that raised more than $5 billion and invested in more than 150 growth-stage software, eCommerce, internet, and data-services companies.

Key Partners

 * Microsoft Managed and Gold Certified Partner
 * Novell Preferred Technology Partner

Products
The company offered\ the Blackbird Management Suite, a technology platform that unified the operation of ten functionally separate modules that tracked, managed, and protected various activities from a centralized console. In the Windows infrastructure management arena, products focused on Active Directory, Windows File System, Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Exchange.

The company divided its products into three solution areas:


 * Identity and access management
 * Data protection
 * Auditing and Compliance

Community Products
The company also developed a portfolio of five community products for enterprise IT managers who wished to track their Active Directory logon activity and their cloud app configurations and user activity. The community products were divided into two categories:
 * Active Directory utilities
 * Cloud utilities

Awards & Recognition
The Blackbird Management Suite won the “Editor’s Best Award 2012” in the Best Auditing/Compliance Product category from Windows IT Pro magazine.

The Blackbird Management Suite won the "Editors' Best Award 2011" in the Best Active Directory and Group Policy Product category from Windows IT Pro magazine.

In 2011, Redmond Magazine reviewed the Blackbird Management Suite and rated it with a score of 9.0 out of 10, which earned Blackbird the magazine's MVP award.

The Blackbird Management Suite was named the "Editors' Best Award 2010" winner in the Auditing/Compliance Category by Windows IT Pro magazine.