As we trend towards the end of the year, the IT channel has continued its push of acquisitions to grow its service offerings and provide for more customers.
Channel Insider has been keeping track of major moves within the ecosystem and the varying factors that have driven recent M&As in the MSP industry. Let’s take a look at some of the key acquisitions that are shaping the industry as we end 2024.
Trace3 acquires Zivaro
Recently, business transformation consultant, Trace3, announced that it would be acquiring Zivaro, a government and public sector-focused technology solutions provider.
The acquisition will lead to the creation of Trace3 Government (T3G), a new business vertical. The Denver-based Zivaro will join Trace3’s brand and expand its existing verticalized teams currently dedicated to healthcare and financial services.
“The joint value our clients will receive from Trace3’s integration of Zivaro promises to be significant,” said Trace3 CEO Rich Fennessy. “Integrating Zivaro’s public sector and critical infrastructure expertise into the Trace3 portfolio of end-to-end solutions will drive true business transformation for both Trace3 and Zivaro clients, as well as our collective partners.”
Comcast Business to Acquire Nitel
Comcast Business recently announced a deal to acquire Nitel, a Chicago-based MSP, from international private equity firm Cinven. Through this acquisition, Comcast Business will expand its presence in connectivity, global secure networking, and advanced technology, while also enhancing Comcast’s ability to serve enterprise clients.
Adding Nitel’s comprehensive solutions and specialized cloud-based services to Comcast Business’ connectivity portfolio will provide more growth opportunities and enable customers to seamlessly manage their operations and networks securely and more efficiently.
“Nitel is a dynamic player in managed network services, and its addition to our portfolio will strengthen our capabilities in advanced network, cloud, and cybersecurity solutions,” said Edward Zimmerman, President, Comcast Business. “With Nitel, we’re poised to deliver even greater value to our customers, empowering businesses with the tools they need to succeed now and in the future.”
Blue Mantis acquires Colligio
Unified communications, networking, and security solutions provider, Colligio, was acquired by Blue Mantis recently to add to their growing list of strategic offerings and services.
Through this acquisition, Blue Mantis will be launching a new Collaboration/Unified Communications Practice to deliver best-in-class collaboration and communications solutions. Colligio founder and President Sean Kelley will take over to lead the practice as VP of Collaboration and Unified Communications.
“In acquiring Colligio, Blue Mantis is not only enhancing its existing Networking and Security service offerings, but we are also unlocking exciting new opportunities in Collaboration, a key growth pillar for the company,” said Josh Dinneen, CEO of Blue Mantis. “The experience and expertise gained through the Colligio team augments our current capabilities and aligns with our vision to stay ahead of emerging trends and provide clients with a broader suite of solutions.”
Atturra acquires Plan B
Australian IT solutions provider, Atturra, has acquired Plan B for $20 million. Through the acquisition, Atturra will gain a network of five data centers across both the North and South islands of New Zealand.
“The acquisition of Plan B fits into Atturra’s ambition to be a leader in managed services and this expands Atturra’s presence into New Zealand,” said Atturra CEO Stephen Kowal. “We see the acquisition of Plan B as a launchpad for further expansion both geographically and in capability, particularly with its network of five primary DCs across New Zealand. Plan B is recognized as a trusted partner in New Zealand and this acquisition perfectly aligns with our strategy.”
Additionally, acquiring Plan B will add over 1,000 Australian and New Zealand clients, giving Atturra a predictable revenue stream.
Cisco to acquire SnapAttack
Threat detection and defense company, SnapAttack, is set to be acquired by Cisco to help boost Splunk innovation and boost security operation center (SOC) capabilities.
Through this acquisition, security teams will be able to innovate more with accelerated delivery of capabilities that offer more control, visibility, and advanced management of all their security content, including their own content that they develop.
“By bringing the new capabilities provided by SnapAttack together with Splunk’s existing security products, customers will benefit from an enhanced TDIR (threat detection, investigation and response) platform that enables them to quickly adapt to changes in the threat landscape,” said SVP and GM for Splunk’s Security business Mike Horn in a blog post.
AppDirect acquiring Firstbase
Leading B2B commerce platform, AppDirect, is set to acquire IT asset management platform Firstbase to provide a consolidated management platform for software, telecom, and hardware assets. Firstbase’s platform functionality will integrate with AppDirect’s platform through the acquisition and provide the latter’s advisor community with a single destination for end customers to manage their assets.
“AppDirect’s vision to build the B2B-everything platform fits perfectly with ours at Firstbase. Together, we can solve all the major problems the biggest companies and most innovative CIOs face across both software and hardware,” said Chris Herd, founder and CEO of Firstbase. “Firstbase already solves IT asset management complexity for the world’s fastest growing companies by simplifying complicated procurement processes. AppDirect’s advisor channel has the potential to massively accelerate our GTM. We couldn’t be more excited.”
This acquisition by AppDirect comes on the heels of its acquisitions of Builtfirst and ADcom, as well as its impending acquisition of vCom.
Arctic Wolf to purchase Cylance from BlackBerry
In a $160 million deal, security services provider Arctic Wolf is acquiring BlackBerry’s Cylance endpoint security assets. This deal is a significant discount from the $1.4 billion deal BlackBerry made to acquire Cylance in 2018.
“Cylance’s trailblazing suite of endpoint security capabilities and enhanced AI functionality will bolster Arctic Wolf’s position as a market-leading platform provider, offering coverage from the endpoint to the edge,” said Arctic Wolf CEO Nick Schneider. “As we enter the endpoint space, we will remain committed to being an open platform and supporting the 15-plus endpoint solutions we do today to ensure our customers and partners have optionality to use whatever endpoint tool best suits their needs.”
The deal is expected to close in BlackBerry’s fourth fiscal quarter, ending on Feb. 28.
Citrix acquires deviceTRUST and Strong Network
In an effort to boost its zero trust security posture, Citrix is making an acquisition of both deviceTRUST and Strong Network to add the companies’ tech to its own platform.
Through this acquisition, Citrix’s platform will receive a boost in its ability to protect critical applications and data across diverse environments empowering companies to implement robust zero-trust access controls. Additionally, integrating these security technologies will allow Citrix to simplify the management of complex hybrid environments, ensure secure access for developers to critical cloud resources, and reduce the risk of data loss for customers.
Among key benefits include: enhanced zero trust security with granular access control, secure cloud development environments, and simplified zero trust security management.
Cohesity acquires Veritas’ enterprise data protection business
AI-powered data security company, Cohesity, announced its acquisition of Veritas’ enterprise data protection business, making it the largest data protection software provider by market share in the world.
Cohesity will now serve over 12,000 customers, offering the broadest workload support and one of the largest partner ecosystems in the data protection industry.
“This is a major milestone in the 11-year history of Cohesity, whose mission is to protect, secure, and provide insights into the world’s data,” said Sanjay Poonen, the president and CEO of Cohesity. “By combining Cohesity’s scale-out architecture and strong generative AI and security capabilities with Veritas’ broad workload support and extensive global footprint, our customers and partners stand to gain more value from their data than ever.”
TeamViewer set to acquire 1E
German-based remote access provider, TeamViewer, is purchasing UK-based Digital Employee Experience (DEX) firm, 1E, in a $720 million deal.
The deal will allow TeamViewer to create an end-to-end offering for tackling IT issues by integrating its remote access and support with 1E’s autonomous IT platform. Further, the deal will strengthen TeamViewer’s presence in North America, as well as position them to introduce DEX solutions into the regions EMEA and APAC.
“Together with 1E, we are ideally positioned to meet growing customer demands for more real-time, automated and proactive approaches in the IT and the OT space,” said TeamViewer CEO Oliver Steil. “TeamViewer’s largest acquisition to date marks an important step forward to accelerate enterprise growth, drive innovation, and deliver greater value to our customers.”
CDW acquires Mission Cloud Services
In an effort to strengthen its cloud practice, CDW is acquiring dedicated AWS managed cloud service provider, Mission Cloud Services.
“The acquisition of Mission accelerates our three-part growth strategy by augmenting our cloud services and enhancing our ability to deliver customer-centric outcomes across the full technology solutions stack and lifecycle,” said Christine Leahy, the chair and CEO of CDW. “We look forward to welcoming the talented Mission team to CDW and leveraging their robust cloud, security, and AI expertise to lead the market and deliver on our purpose– to make technology work so people can do great things.”
Through the acquisition, CDW and Mission will now combine to form CDW’s dedicated AWS practice.
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