Monday Morning Impact – March 4

ConnectWise to be Acquired by Thoma Bravo

ConnectWise has announced its acquisition by Thoma Bravo, LLC, a private equity investment firm based in Chicago and San Francisco.

ConnectWise founder and CEO Arnie Bellini will transition into an advisory role, and Jason Magee, will become CEO. Magee, who has been with ConnectWise since 2011, was named COO in 2016. During his tenure as COO, ConnectWise grew at a 21 percent cumulative annual growth rate with more than 81 percent growth in EBITDA.

“Five years ago, we began exploring all of the financial options to accelerate the ConnectWise mission and our partners’ success,” said Bellini. “Thoma Bravo was the clear and obvious choice over an Initial Public Offering (IPO) and seven other private equity firms.”

Bellini added that Thoma Bravo’s position in Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technology was among the elements that made the firm a good fit. Bellini also expressed satisfaction with the selection of Magee as his successor. “Jason has more than 20 years of deep industry experience with MSPs and VARs. Because Jason’s been in their shoes, he is committed to ConnectWise’s partners.”

“Our success has been founded on deep interactions with our partners through our IT Nation events and peer groups,” said Magee. “I believe the Thoma Bravo partnership will accelerate our ability to continually develop the platform our partners need to succeed through acquisitions and innovation.”

Identified priorities include enhanced cybersecurity solutions, education, and go-to-market tools. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Channel Impact^®
Thoma Bravo’s software position and capital will enable ConnectWise to pursue a strategy focused on both organic growth and strategic acquisitions. It will also be interesting to see how the strategy for ConnectWise will mesh with that of Continuum, another Thoma Bravo company.

Continuum Launches initiative to Help MSPs Address Cybersecurity

Continuum has launched “Empower for MSPs,” a subscription-based service intended to provide MSPs the expertise, support and solutions they need to fully understand their clients’ security gaps and deliver the service they need.

The structure includes client-facing assessment reports that combine dark web scanning, endpoint and user data, allowing MSPs to provide clients a clear and comprehensive view of their current risks. Related offerings that may be sold as a result of the assessment include endpoint detection and network monitoring, as well as a maximum of two incident responses annually from Continuum’s Security Operations Center for assistance with remediation in the event of a breach.

“One of the biggest challenges MSPs are facing in cybersecurity is helping their clients understand the real risks in their environment and the value of additional security protections,” said Brian Downey, Senior Director of Security Product Management at Continuum. “We’ve seen first-hand what MSPs need to begin building their own cybersecurity practices and have developed a suite of tools and supporting collateral to put them on the right footing to do so.”

Empower is available in two categories. Both offerings provide MSPs with access to Continuum Security Assess, which identifies end-client security gaps and generates customer-facing reports to illustrate those gaps, as well as discounts and licenses for the Continuum Security product suite and dark web monitoring. Empower Plus offers additional monitoring solutions, further discounts and licensing options, as well as SOC incident response support for up to two events per year.

Based in Boston, Massachusetts, Continuum markets a management platform for MSPs.

Channel Impact^®
Comprehensive, measurable data is one of the most effective ways to prove the need for cybersecurity purchases.

Lenovo Rolls Out Infrastructure-as-a-Service Offering

Lenovo, of Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, has unveiled “TruScale Infrastructure Services,” a consumption-based subscription that allows customers to use and pay for data center hardware and services, on-premise or at a customer-preferred location, without having to purchase the equipment.

Lenovo’s ThinkSystem and ThinkAgile product portfolios are available through this offering, which includes hardware installation, deployment, management, maintenance and removal. Customers have constant visibility to their consumption through a portal, and also have access to assigned staff to assist with any issues.

“By eliminating the capital expense of purchasing IT equipment and replacing with a subscription model, customers can now focus on supporting their business growth, knowing that they’ll have the right flexibility across their environment,” said Roderick Lappin, Senior Vice President and Chief Customer Officer at Lenovo Data Center Group. “Lenovo TruScale Infrastructure Services combines the economic flexibility of cloud with the security of on-premise data, giving customers more agility, efficiency and simplicity in how they operate.”

The package is available through Lenovo sales representatives and channel partners across the globe.

Channel Impact^®
By outsourcing resource management, IT organizations can focus on innovating within the business.