'Go to Datto and get the best deal you possibly can' - Industry experts react to Kaseya's $6.2bn Datto acquisition

MSP expert says Datto partners ‘have more power than ever’ amid Kaseya deal

Partners should be using Kaseya's impending acquisition of Datto to get the best deal they possibly can from RMM vendors.

That's the opinion of one MSP expert who spoke to CRN after news broke of Kaseya's $6.2bn acquisition of Datto via its private equity investor Insight Partners.

The deal will see Datto, which is majority owned by its own PE backer Vista Equity Partners, delisted from the NYSE following its IPO in 2020.

Speaking to CRN, former SolarWinds director and host of the Business of Tech Podcast, Dave Sobel, said that MSPs that partner with Datto should be using the acquisition as an opportunity to get the best possible deal they can from the vendor.

"The deal hasn't gone through yet, and it won't work for Datto if they are haemorrhaging customers," he said.

"If you are a Datto customer, go and get the best deal you can from them. You will never be more powerful than you are right now as a Datto partner," he added.

Robin Ody, senior analyst at Canalys, added that reaction towards the acquisition has been largely negative since it was announced and many Datto partners are thinking they need to reassess their RMM and backup products.

"Whenever a vendor you work with gets acquired, you look at what you're likely to get in terms of support and product development and investment and compare it to what you had, and to look at others options that might be doing it better," he said.

"MSPs communicate at the grassroots level. They will go with products that are trusted by other MSPs.

"It's a big decision to shift your PSA or backup portfolio from one vendor to another - it is not a small deal - that's a big thing."

The cyberattack against Kaseya last year, which impacted more than 50 MSPs and up to 1,500 customers, is another added concern for many MSPs.

"That's one of the reasons the feeling has been so difficult around Kaseya, because some of that trust has been lost, and in the MSP community more than anywhere else, that's an important thing," added Ody.

Cisilion's CTO Rob Quickenden speculated that Kaseya's backer Insight Partners may have grand plans to shake up the MSP tools space with more acquisitions beyond the Datto deal.

"Only time will tell what the longer-term plans are for Datto and Kaseya as a whole," he said.

"Insight Partners could be looking to build up Kaseya ready for an IPO in the not so distant future by continuing their acquisition spree of competitors and similarly aligned companies and integrate them into Kaseya as they have done recently with ITGlue, Unitrends and Vorex.

He added: "The acquisition is certainly a wake-up call as to how much private equity plays in the market today - just look at the numbers of companies in recent years that have bought, IPO'd, sold, privatised, sold again and IPO'd again - examples - Poly, Riverbed to name just two we work with closely at Cisilion.