Celebrating F5 Day

In 2013, former Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, proclaimed that February 5 was “F5 Day” for the city. We’ve been celebrating it ever since – taking it to our more than 70 offices across the globe.

Like many tech companies in Seattle, F5 had fairly humble beginnings. Founded in 1996, under the banner of F5 Labs, we rode the dot-com boom selling some of the world’s first load balancers, until the bubble burst - and we almost did too.

Under the leadership of CEO John McAdam, F5 emerged from the early-2000s with the Traffic Management Operating System (TMOS) and a razor-sharp focus on applications services for enterprise customers.

The result has been F5’s lead position for almost a decade in Application Delivery Controllers (ADC), and our expansion into a number of new markets, including cloud computing and security. Today, F5 employs more than 4,275 people worldwide, with more than 1,500 employees based in Washington State. In fiscal year 2015, we recorded revenue of $1.92 billion.

This year, we’re marking the occasion in our offices in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia by recognizing our employees for all they accomplish for F5 and in their communities. Just take a look at their #Iamf5 posts on social media, the significant support they offer to local charities, the +200,000 members they engage on DevCentral, or the customers in 48 of Fortune 50 companies that swear by their service. For two years running, F5 has been named a “Best Place to Work” in the U.S. by the Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Awards and we are routinely recognized as leaders in both our industry and region.

We want to thank the city of Seattle for the recognition of “F5 Day,” but more importantly for the opportunity it gives us to thank the many colleagues, partners, friends and families who have contributed to our success along the way. 2016 may mark 20 years in business, but in some ways, I think many at F5 feel as if we’ve only just begun!