What Rocket Software does

Rocket Software is a privately held enterprise software company headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, specializing in IT modernization for IBM Z and IBM i mainframe environments. Founded in 1990 and backed by Bain Capital, the company serves over 12,500 customers across 22 countries with a workforce of approximately 3,200 employees and a partner network of 750+. Its core offerings span four solution areas: data integration and content management (Rocket DataEdge, Rocket ContentEdge, Vertica), security and compliance (Rocket Secure Host Access, z/Assure VAP), developer experience and DevOps (Rocket DevOps, ChangeMan ZMF, Workload Automation), and application modernization (Rocket Visual COBOL, Rocket Enterprise Suite). Rocket EVA, an agentic AI diagnostics platform, and AI capabilities embedded across the product portfolio represent the company's AI-forward evolution beyond traditional mainframe tooling.

The company generates revenue primarily through multi-year enterprise subscription licensing with a usage-based pricing emphasis, complemented by professional services and support. Its go-to-market combines direct enterprise field sales targeting CIOs and IT leaders in financial services, insurance, government, manufacturing, and healthcare with strategic partnerships across AWS Marketplace, HPE Unleash AI, and K2view. Acquisitions have been central to the company's strategy, including the transformative $2.275 billion purchase of OpenText's Application Modernization and Connectivity business in May 2024 and the $150 million acquisition of Vertica in May 2026. Customer concentration spans regulated industries where mainframe systems underpin mission-critical operations, with documented outcomes including 75-90% cost reductions through replatforming, 99.9% uptime, and 116% ROI over three years for Rocket Secure Host Access deployments.

Rocket's strategic positioning emphasizes "modernization without disruption," leveraging 30+ years of mainframe domain expertise to address the acute skills shortage facing enterprises reliant on COBOL, PL/I, JCL, and related legacy environments. The company has been recognized as a Challenger in the Gartner Magic Quadrants for Technical Debt Management Tools and Service Orchestration and Automation Platforms, and Rocket DataEdge was named an IDC Vendor to Watch. With approximately 20 acquisitions since 2006 and continued product expansion into AI-native operational diagnostics and unstructured content management, Rocket operates as a roll-up platform consolidating the mainframe modernization, connectivity, and data integration software markets.

Name

Rocket Software

Legal name

Rocket Software, Inc.

Website

https://rocketsoftware.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Rocket Software is a Bain Capital-backed enterprise software company serving 12,500+ customers with mainframe modernization, hybrid cloud integration, security, DevOps, and AI-powered data solutions for IBM Z and IBM i environments across financial services, insurance, and government sectors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Enterprise IT Modernization Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (51321), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (5415), Computer Systems Design Services (541512)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

Software Engineering & Application Modernization (BPAHAEAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

IT Service Management (ITSM) Platforms (HDAEALAA), IT Incident, Problem & Change Management Platforms (HDAEALAI)

Keywords

• Enterprise mainframe modernization
• IBM Z software solutions
• Hybrid cloud integration
• Mainframe DevOps tooling
• Enterprise data integration

Headquarters

HQ city

Waltham

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Enterprise Software Licenses and Subscriptions: Rocket Software generates revenue through enterprise software licensing and subscription contracts for its mainframe modernization, security, DevOps, and data solutions portfolio. Products are sold primarily to enterprise customers with multi-year contract terms.
2. Usage-Based Software: The company employs usage-based pricing models as a key differentiator, charging customers based on consumption rather than seat-based licensing. This approach aligns with modern SaaS trends and provides flexibility for enterprise customers.
3. Professional Services and Support: Revenue generated from implementation, training, and professional services supporting the company's software portfolio across global customer base.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Rocket Software develops and sells enterprise IT modernization software primarily targeting IBM Z and IBM i mainframe environments. Its portfolio spans four core solution areas — Data Solutions (Rocket DataEdge, Rocket ContentEdge), Security and Compliance (Rocket Secure Host Access, Rocket z/Assure VAP), Developer Experience/DevOps (Rocket DevOps, ChangeMan ZMF, Workload Automation), and Application Modernization (Rocket Visual COBOL, Rocket Enterprise Suite) — supplemented by the Rocket EVA agentic AI platform and the Vertica analytics database acquired from OpenText. The company also offers implementation, training, and support services alongside its software products.

Product overview

Rocket Software offers a comprehensive enterprise IT modernization platform organized around four core solution areas: Data Solutions (including Rocket DataEdge and Rocket ContentEdge), Security and Compliance Solutions (including Rocket Secure Host Access and z/Assure VAP), Developer Experience/DevOps (including Rocket DevOps, ChangeMan ZMF, and Workload Automation), and Application Modernization (including Rocket Visual COBOL and Rocket Enterprise Suite). The portfolio also includes Rocket EVA for AI-powered diagnostics, Rocket MultiValue, and Rocket Uniface platforms. The company completed acquisition of the Vertica analytics database platform from OpenText in May 2026, adding high-performance analytics and AI capabilities with over 600 global customers. Products span IBM Z and IBM i modernization, hybrid cloud integration, AI-powered tools, and enterprise data management across 12,500+ customers globally.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Rocket Secure Host Access

Quantifiable outcome

• 99.9% uptime achieved with Rocket DataEdge deployments
• +9 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration18 records

AI capability16 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• HPE (Hewlett Packard Enterprise)coreGTM or Marketing Partner · 18 June 2026Rocket Software joined the HPE Unleash AI Partner Program to accelerate delivery of a sovereign AI-native data lakehouse. Rocket's DataEdge RDRS product became the first validated solution within the HPE Unleash AI ecosystem, enabling real-time data replication for AI and analytics platforms without disrupting core business systems. The combined offering integrates Vertica's MPP architecture and in-database machine learning with HPE's GreenLake and Alletra Storage MP X10000, which achieved NVIDIA-Certified Storage validation.
• K2viewcoreTechnology or Integration · 20 January 2026Rocket Software and K2view announced a strategic partnership to deliver Enterprise Test Data Management solutions that combine Rocket's DataEdge virtualization technology with K2view's data product platform. The collaboration enables organizations to provision production-like, compliant test datasets for mainframe and distributed systems. One of the largest regional banks is already among the joint customers, with strong traction among regulated sectors like banking and financial services.
• AWS (Amazon Web Services)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRocket Software maintains solutions on AWS Marketplace enabling customers to discover, purchase, and deploy mainframe modernization solutions directly through AWS. The partnership supports mainframe migration to AWS managed execution environment and enables customers to deploy business-critical mainframe applications to AWS with greater flexibility while reducing delivery costs.

Scale indicators21 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Market position

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Rocket
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@RocketSoftwareOfficial
• Facebookfacebook.com/rocketsoftwareinc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/Rocket-Software-3997577

Compliance7 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors1 record

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

M&A23 records

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Rocket Software