Atlassian Expands Its Product Suite with $1 Billion Acquisition of Developer Productivity Platform DX
October 5, 2023 – Productivity software leader Atlassian has announced its largest acquisition to date, enhancing its offerings with the developer productivity insights platform DX for $1 billion in cash and restricted stock.
A Strategic Acquisition to Boost Developer Efficiency
Atlassian’s acquisition of DX aims to arm enterprises with tools to evaluate engineering team productivity and identify workflow bottlenecks. The platform, launched in 2018 by founders Abi Noda and Greyson Junggren, focuses on providing insights into what impedes engineering productivity.
In a statement to TechCrunch, Noda explained his motivation behind founding DX: he sought a more comprehensive understanding of the challenges faced by engineering teams. His experience as a product manager at GitHub revealed that traditional metrics often missed the mark and could inadvertently contribute to a “surveillance” culture amongst developers.
“The assumptions we had about what we needed to help ship products faster were quite different than the issues teams and developers reported,” Noda noted. “Often, they lacked awareness of the challenges impacting their productivity.”
Rapid Growth Within the Developer Ecosystem
Since emerging from stealth mode in 2022, DX has experienced rapid growth, tripling its customer base annually. The platform now serves over 350 enterprise clients, including well-known brands like ADP, Adyen, and GitHub, all while raising under $5 million in venture capital.
Atlassian’s co-founder and CEO, Mike Cannon-Brookes, shared that the company dedicated three years to developing an internal developer productivity tool before recognizing the advantages of acquiring an already successful solution. DX was a fitting choice, as 90% of its customers are existing users of Atlassian’s suite of project management and collaboration tools.
Enhancing Developer Productivity with Integrated Solutions
Cannon-Brookes highlighted DX’s expertise in translating both qualitative and quantitative aspects of developer productivity into actionable insights. “DX has excelled at understanding what drives productivity and how companies can benefit from comparisons within their industry,” he stated.
Amid the growing importance of Artificial Intelligence tools, companies are increasingly seeking ways to evaluate their resource allocation. “With rising budgets, organizations must assess whether their expenditures are effective and justified," he added.
Cannon-Brookes also emphasized the cultural compatibility between Atlassian and DX, noting an affinity for the entrepreneurial spirit found in Utah, where DX is based. Both companies have thrived without heavily relying on external funding.
Fostering Synergy for Customer Success
Noda echoed these sentiments, affirming the compatibility between DX and Atlassian. He expressed confidence that their collective tools could offer customers a comprehensive solution to identify and correct productivity issues. “We can provide a unified framework to analyze data, which helps in pinpointing inefficiencies,” he remarked.
The DX platform will be seamlessly integrated into Atlassian’s extensive product ecosystem, enabling customers to effectively leverage both companies’ offerings.
This acquisition marks Atlassian’s second major deal this month, following its earlier announcement regarding the purchase of AI-browser developer The Browser Company.
Overall, the acquisition positions Atlassian to enhance its developer productivity capabilities, offering a robust suite of tools tailored for modern engineering teams. This strategic move not only augments Atlassian’s product line but also reflects its commitment to improving organizational efficiencies through innovative solutions.
