Better Together

In an age of mergers and acquisitions, it was no surprise when Autotask Corporation, the world’s leading provider of hosted IT business management software, announced that it had entered into an agreement to be acquired by Vista Equity Partners in June 2014. And it was equally unsurprising when, a little over three years later, business data protection solutions provider Datto was snapped up by the same investment firm. What perhaps did come as a surprise to many though was the news that the two were to be merged.

Internally however, the deal made perfect sense, says Autotask SVP and general manager International Mark Banfield. “Datto had originally planned to take the company public,” Banfield says. “With Vista Equity Partners, they found an investment partner that understood the market Datto is in and believed in Datto’s long-term vision.

“Vista also owned Autotask and we’re very entrenched in this market space already and they saw an opportunity to bring our companies together to create a company that could serve the needs of the IT channel more effectively.”

Those needs have been a driving force for both organisations and the ‘inherent synergies’ are, Banfield believes, key. “We are both passionate about delivering a superior customer experience and providing the best products and solutions to help our customers succeed and grow profitably.”

While the merger has seen internal maneuvers under the stewardship of Datto CEO and founder Austin McChord, with Autotask senior vice president of Engineering Adam Stewart joining the executive team, Banfield is keen to stress that those who will benefit the most are the firms’ collective portfolio of MSPs and SMBs. (Datto’s network alone currently consists of more than 13,000 MSPs and 500,000 SMBs, but the company is remaining coy on future targets.)

“By combining Autotask service automation and remote monitoring and management with unified managed service offerings – backup, secure file sharing, business continuity and networking services – we can now deliver tremendous value to the IT channel by providing technology providers (MSPs, IT service providers) with services to increase recurring revenue, grow and expand – all from one company.”

Moving forwards, the newly expanded Datto brand will continue to grow with a ‘joint roadmap’ imminent and Banfield is confident that everyone will benefit. “We are now, more than ever, committed to innovating and providing our customers with valuable solutions for them to run their business and support their clients with the right solutions. The Datto brand will benefit from what our unified Autotask PSA and RMM has to offer and our customers will have the added dimension of offering the best total data protection solutions to clients.

“It’s a win-win-win and I believe it will help expand the brand positively for years to come,” he concludes.