In the world of enterprise software, acquisitions often follow a familiar pattern: buy, cut, flip. It’s a process driven by short-term gains that often loses the heart of a company – its people, culture, and long-term value. Izzi Software is flipping the script and taking a different path.
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Launched in late 2024 and led by longtime mainframe expert Jennifer Nelson, Izzi Software exists to protect and grow founder-led companies in the mainframe and IBM Power space. These businesses weren’t built overnight; rather, they earned their place through decades of trust, innovation, and technical depth. Izzi sees their value not just in code, but in continuity.
What sets Izzi apart is its commitment to preserving what already works while helping these companies evolve without losing their identity. Unlike traditional private equity firms, Izzi aims to acquire organizations with strong customer bases and proven technology, then add resources for growth. That growth might come through:
- New product development
- Improved customer support
- Strategic integration with other Izzi portfolio companies
What sets Izzi apart is its commitment to preserving what already works
while helping companies evolve without losing their identity.
Founder-First, People-First
Izzi’s approach starts with people. The team collaborates with founders to understand their goals, whether they want to retire or stay involved. This ensures that institutional knowledge isn’t a casualty of acquisition.
In many cases, founders stay on to help guide the transition and ensure the product vision is maintained. When someone does step away, Izzi focuses on continuity and stability by investing in the team, technology, infrastructure and relationships that made each company successful in the first place.
“Business continuity isn’t just about leadership. It’s about preserving the teams, tools, and knowledge that keep systems running and customers successful.”
— Jennifer Nelson, CEO, Izzi Software
Cases: Colesoft and CNX
Colesoft, Izzi’s first acquisition, reflected this philosophy and set the company’s tone. Colesoft was founded by Dave Cole in the 1980s and is known for the reliability and depth of its debugging tools. For many developers, Colesoft tools are integrated into their daily workflows and trusted networks. By acquiring Colesoft and continuing to support its development, Izzi reinforces an existing foundation rather than replacing it.
Izzi’s second major acquisition, CNX Corporation, expanded into IBM Power systems. CNX’s Valence Framework is a low-code development platform that breathes new life into legacy applications. It also creates a springboard for building a future-ready, interoperable tech stack that respects the core systems and compatibility that today’s enterprises already rely on. This makes CNX a smart addition to Izzi’s product suite.
Putting R&D Dollars Where They Matter
Izzi’s long-term, people-first mindset also extends into product strategy. The company is investing in R&D to solve real-world problems faced by developers working across hybrid environments. One key area is cross-platform debugging, an increasingly complex challenge in ecosystems that include mainframes, clouds, and distributed systems coexisting.
Rather than treating the mainframe as a silo, Izzi is exploring the possibility of offering end-to-end visibility across the network, making it easier for engineers to work across platforms.
Modern Practices, Legacy Strength
Nelson doesn’t view mainframe and Power systems as outdated relics. She sees them as elite infrastructure: fast, resilient, and mission-critical. The challenge, she says, isn’t relevance. It’s helping companies adopt modern practices without losing the reliability that makes these platforms so valuable.
“Bright people can create amazing tech. Our job is to protect that innovation and help it grow.”
—Jennifer Nelson, CEO, Izzi Software
Even as AI, automation, and cloud-native platforms reshape the landscape, Izzi recognizes that smaller companies often lack the resources to modernize alone. Rather than forcing change, Izzi partners with teams who have the vision and talent to go further.
Protecting Value
What unifies Izzi’s approach is a deep respect for legacy as something valuable and worth protecting. The mission:
- Support growth without gutting the past
- Elevate products without erasing culture
- Modernize, but keep the soul intact
Izzi’s goals ensure that businesses can keep evolving without losing what made them great in the first place. Growth doesn’t have to mean destruction.
With more acquisitions on the horizon and a growing product roadmap, Izzi Software is proving that there’s a better way to support enterprise technology: balancing profit with purpose, innovation with stability, and progress with preservation.
Jennifer Nelson is senior director of software engineering and head of the Austin Center of Excellence at Rocket Software. After serving in the U.S. military, Jennifer attended the University of Texas while moonlighting as a Db2 database administrator at an IT company in Austin.