Monday Morning Impact – April 25

Datto to be Acquired by Kaseya

Kaseya, a Miami-based provider of unified management and security software for MSPs and SMBs, has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Datto, a global provider of security and cloud-based software solutions for MSPs.

Kaseya’s IT management solutions include IT Glue, RapidFire Tools, Spanning Cloud Apps, ID Agent, Graphus, RocketCyber, TruMethods and Unitrends.

Based in Norwalk, Connecticut, Datto specializes in unified continuity, networking, endpoint management, and solutions designed to defend against downtime and data loss in servers, virtual machines, and cloud applications.

Under the terms of the agreement, Datto stockholders will receive $35.50 per share in a transaction that values Datto at approximately $6.2 billion. The offer represents a 52% premium to Datto’s unaffected stock price of $23.37 as of March 16, 2022. This deal also represents a 48% premium to the unaffected 30-day volume-weighted average price of Datto stock for the period ending March 16, 2022.

“This is exciting news for Kaseya’s global customers, who can expect to see more functional, innovative and integrated solutions as a result of the purchase,” said Fred Voccola, Kaseya’s CEO. “The alignment of our missions and focus makes us a natural fit, that will help our greatly appreciated customers reach new levels of success.”

“Combining with Kaseya brings together a broader array of technology products to create additional opportunities for MSPs,” said Tim Weller, CEO of Datto. “I’m encouraged by the continued investment in the rapidly-expanding global MSP community, and this transaction is another important validation of the channel.”

The transaction, which is currently expected to close in the second half of 2022, is subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including the receipt of applicable regulatory approvals. The companies will operate completely independently until the transaction has been finalized.

Channel Impact^®
The combination of the two companies is expected to add substantial synergies to the offerings provides to the MSP community.

Study: Most Policyholders Believe Cyber Insurance is Worth the Cost

Cowbell Cyber, a Pleasanton, California-based provider of cyber insurance for small and medium-sized businesses, has released a new research report suggesting that nearly three-fourths (75%) of its policyholders believe that cyber insurance is worth the cost, and that their companies have improved their cybersecurity awareness as a result of acquiring cyber insurance.

The report, is based on January findings from Cowbell’s U.S. policyholder base, aimed at supporting more accurate underwriting, and determining how SMBs perceive cyber insurance, and the ways in which cyber insurance premiums vary by industry.

The results also revealed that 71% of respondents want their cyber insurer to give recommendations to minimize risk exposure, and that 48% would like cybersecurity awareness training for employees.

“Cyber insurance has become a standard tool for businesses of any size to build cyber resiliency,” said Isabelle Dumont, SVP of Marketing and Technology Partners at Cowbell Cyber. “The good news is that SMEs are, overall, aligned with the services Cowbell provides, such as our Cowbell Insights, Cowbell’s risk engineering team that provides guidance on incident preparedness and risk mitigation, and the ability to set up a cybersecurity awareness training program for employees.”

The report points hospitality, mining, public services, education, financial services, entertainment, and transportation as some of the more vulnerable verticals.

Channel Impact^®
The report offers various insights and rationales behind cyber insurance that could be useful to channel partners seeking to engage in this market.

Rackspace and Akamai Partner for Application Security to SMBs

Rackspace Technology of San Antonio, Texas and Akamai Technologies, have announced enhancements to their strategic partnership, offering global businesses consultative services to help secure their applications and APIs.

Through the partnership, Rackspace and Akamai intend to help commercial customers secure their cloud workloads using Akamai’s Web Application and API Protector, which offers security features for websites, applications and APIs.

“We are focused on bringing best-in-class cloud security solutions to our customers and are excited about expanding our relationship with Akamai to provide expert guidance and Fanatical Support to unlock Akamai application protection for businesses that would previously be unable to afford such advanced capabilities,” said Gary Alterson, Vice President of Security Services at Rackspace Technology. “As organizations transform their networks and modernize their applications, securing websites, applications and APIs are increasingly mission-critical capabilities for organizations of all sizes.”

Rackspace is offering Akamai’s Web Application and API Protection combined with its Rackspace Elastic Engineering for Security managed offer, which provides access to security experts to customize, optimize and manage security postures. The new offering is geared to commercial businesses who may otherwise have difficulties accessing the expert resources needed to onboard advanced security technologies.

“Organizations are increasingly adopting cloud architectures that make them vulnerable to cyber-attacks,” said PJ Joseph, Executive Vice President Sales and Services. at Akamai. “These vulnerabilities include an increase in DDoS attacks and growing use and subsequent abuse of APIs. We are pleased to partner with Rackspace to create new bundles of Akamai’s market-leading security services to address the application security needs of both enterprises and small to medium businesses.”

Rackspace is an Akamai Partner with knowledge and experience in cloud security and compliance, holding more than sixty Akamai certifications.

Channel Impact^®
SMBs and the channel partners who serve them, are consistently looking for new and better ways to protect data and other resources.