Cherwell Software

What Cherwell Software does

Cherwell Software is a private, for-profit enterprise software company founded in 2004 and headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, that delivered service management technology to improve service experiences across organizations. The company's platform historically competed in the IT Service Management (ITSM) and Enterprise Service Management (ESM) markets, providing integrated and adaptable solutions for IT, HR, facilities, and other internal service functions to mid-to-large enterprises. With 501-1000 employees, Cherwell operated as a mid-market specialist positioned between larger ITSM incumbents and smaller SMB-focused tooling vendors.

The company's product footprint was extended through inorganic moves — most notably the August 2014 acquisition of Express Metrix, an IT asset management vendor — broadening the platform beyond core ITSM into ITAM. Cherwell raised approximately $259M in disclosed funding across multiple rounds, anchored by KKR (lead on both a $50M round in February 2017 and a $172M Series 4 in April 2018) together with CPP Investments, with earlier capital from Insight Venture Management ($25M in November 2012) and a Scottish Enterprise tranche in May 2019 that aligned with a UK presence. The go-to-market was enterprise-direct, with leadership seats including a Chief Customer Officer, a VP of Global Sales Enablement, and a VP & General Manager for EMEA, indicating a structured regional sales motion rather than self-serve SMB distribution.

The most consequential recent signal in the provided data is that web traffic from Cherwell's domain now redirects to Ivanti's website (URL parameter cwredirect= on ivanti.com), strongly implying that Cherwell has been acquired by Ivanti. As a result, the company no longer operates as an independent vendor; the Cherwell product line now sits inside a larger IT and security platform with materially broader global distribution.

Name

Cherwell Software

Website

https://cherwell.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Cherwell Software is a Colorado Springs-based provider of IT and enterprise service management software, founded in 2004 to serve mid-to-large enterprises with integrated ITSM and ITAM platforms. Backed by KKR and CPP Investments, the company raised approximately $259M across multiple funding rounds before being absorbed into Ivanti.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

IT Service Management (ITSM) Software

NAICS

Computer Systems Design Services (541512), Custom Computer Programming Services (541511), Software Publishers (513210)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Enterprise Service Management (ESM) Platforms (HDAEALAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

ITIL/ITSM Process Consulting & Implementation (BPAEAJAB), Enterprise Case Management & Request Fulfillment Platforms (HDAEALAJ), Enterprise Integration, iPaaS & Middleware Services (API/EDI) (BPAEAGAH), Employee Experience (EX) & Digital Experience Monitoring Support (BPAEAJAO), ERP Managed Services & AMS (Application Management) (BPAEAGAB), Enterprise Application Managed Services Outsourcing (ERP/CRM/HRIS AMS) (BPAEAMAI), ERP/CRM/HRIS Implementation & Integration (BPAEAAAE), ITSM Managed Services (Run/Operate/Optimize) (BPAEAJAN)

Keywords

• IT service management
• Enterprise service management
• IT asset management
• Service desk software
• ITSM platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Colorado Springs

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Core offering

Cherwell Software develops and sells IT Service Management (ITSM) and Enterprise Service Management (ESM) software that helps organizations improve service experiences through integrated, adaptable technology. The portfolio includes service desk and workflow automation capabilities, augmented by IT asset management functionality obtained through the 2014 acquisition of Express Metrix, sold primarily to enterprise and mid-market business customers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cherwell Service Management Platform Cherwell's core integrated, adaptable service management platform that improves service experiences across the entire organization, supporting ITSM and broader enterprise service management use cases for enterprise and mid-market customers.
• IT Asset Management (Express Metrix) IT asset management capability obtained through Cherwell's 2014 acquisition of Express Metrix, enabling customers to manage and gain visibility into IT assets within the Cherwell platform.

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• ServiceNow: The dominant cloud-native ITSM and enterprise service management platform. Direct competitor to Cherwell across ITSM, ESM, and increasingly ITAM-adjacent workflows.
• Ivanti: Provider of ITSM, endpoint management, and security workflows under the Ivanti Neurons platform. Directly comparable to Cherwell in mid-market ITSM and increasingly ESM use cases.
• BMC Software (BMC Helix): Long-standing ITSM/ITOM vendor with the Helix ITSM and Helix ITSM SaaS offerings. Competes with Cherwell across enterprise and mid-market service management.
• Atlassian (Jira Service Management): Jira Service Management is a widely adopted ITSM solution often cited alongside Cherwell in ESM/ITSM market research; competes most directly in mid-market and developer-adjacent organizations.
• Freshworks (Freshservice): Freshservice is Freshworks' ITSM and ESM product, positioned for mid-market and SMB buyers — directly overlapping with Cherwell's target segment and value proposition.
• ManageEngine (Zoho): ManageEngine's ServiceDesk Plus is a long-standing ITSM platform competing for the same mid-market ESM budgets as Cherwell, often on price-sensitive deals.
• TOPdesk: European-headquartered ITSM/ESM vendor frequently listed alongside Cherwell in market research; comparable mid-market positioning with strong EMEA presence.
• SysAid: ITSM and AI-driven service management vendor frequently co-listed with Cherwell in ESM market research, targeting similar mid-market and IT-led service desk buyers.

Broad incumbents

• Salesforce (Service Cloud / Employee Experience): Broader CRM and employee/customer experience platform that overlaps with Cherwell's ESM ambitions for HR, customer service, and employee experience workflows beyond core ITSM.
• IBM (Instana / Watson AIOps): Large incumbent with IT service management, AIOps, and IT monitoring capabilities that compete with Cherwell for enterprise service operations budgets, especially where AI/automation is the buyer priority.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Cherwell
• Facebookfacebook.com/cherwellsoftware
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cherwell-software

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds6 records

Investors4 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cherwell Software