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Digi History

From early multiport serial innovation to today’s mission-critical Industrial IoT connectivity, Digi’s story is about helping people and organizations reliably connect, manage, and secure devices, wherever they operate.

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A Legacy of Innovation

Digi was founded in 1985 and went public in 1989. Early on, DigiBoard multiport serial cards helped businesses connect PCs to equipment and communications systems. This was in the days when machine-to-machine (M2M) communication was the fashionable phrase for connected systems, long before the Internet of Things or “IoT” was a thing. Over time, Digi expanded into network-attached devices, industrial monitoring, and secure remote management.

In the early days, Digi’s intelligent ISA/PCI boards gave PCs multiple asynchronous serial interfaces — powering use cases like multi-line bulletin board systems and industrial connectivity. As the market shifted in the late 1990s, Digi moved toward network-attached devices and industrial monitoring, building a foundation for modern IIoT. The next realm was a symbiotic blend of cloud and edge computing that provided the right data and mission critical insights at the right time, enabling our customers to optimize their deployed devices, access real-time data, and leverage predictive maintenance and proactive security management to protect their assets.

Digi Fast Facts

  • NASDAQ: DGII
  • Founded: 1985
  • Went Public: 1989
  • Early Roots: DigiBoard multiport serial cards
  • Today: Secure, scalable IIoT connectivity + management
  • Divisions: Digi, Opengear, Particle, and Smartsense

Growth Through Strategy and Acquisition

Digi’s evolution is ongoing. Though it is 40 years young, the company is agile and focused on innovation and market leadership. Digi’s ongoing growth includes strategic acquisitions that continually expand the company’s capabilities across embedded connectivity, wireless, enterprise and industrial networking, as well as out-of-band management.

Most importantly, Digi has migrated into a solution provider role, offering full-suite and full-stack solutions, both as self-managed and fully managed offerings that simplify networking and support IT and OT teams in optimizing both the efficiency and the expenses involved in managing connected systems.

Timeline

Key moments across Digi’s history—selected milestones and acquisitions that helped shape today’s portfolio

Digi Timeline

What We Do Today

Digi empowers enterprises to build, connect, and manage the critical systems that drive their businesses. By offering organizations an integrated portfolio of managed services, intelligent software, secure connectivity, and resilient edge solutions. Digi helps enterprises monitor, update, and control assets in real time, strengthen compliance, streamline workflows, and keep distributed operations running without interruption.

Digi International’s solutions span multiple specialized brands that address distinct but complementary needs. Digi delivers industrial IoT solutions that include hardware, software, and connectivity that form the backbone of enterprise networks and infrastructure, as well as fully managed cellular networking services, simplifying deployment and lifecycle management at scale. SmartSense focuses on wireless sensor and monitoring solutions, helping organizations protect critical assets, ensure safety, and maintain compliance through real-time visibility. Opengear provides secure, resilient out-of-band management solutions that keep network infrastructure accessible even during outages supporting always-on operations.

Digi logo
Opengear logo
Particle logo
Smartsense logo

Digi’s OEM division’s recent acquisition of Particle will operate under the Particle name, the combined organization brings together Digi’s established OEM embedded connectivity expertise with Particle’s developer-friendly platform. Led by the experienced Digi OEM team, this integration unifies proven hardware, secure connectivity, and cloud-based software into a single, scalable solution—making it easier for customers to design, deploy, and manage connected products from edge to cloud.

Where We're Headed

The next chapter builds on the same foundation: Helping enterprises connect critical assets, manage distributed operations, and maintain continuous visibility and control. The result is solutions that enable organizations to operate smarter, safer, and without interruption in an increasingly connected world.

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