by Joe Panettieri • Sep 12, 2022
DattoCon22 has attracted about 2,000 MSPs and about 2,500 attendees this week in Washington, D.C. So what can MSPs expect from Datto, new owner Kaseya, CEO Fred Voccola, and third-party technology companies?
Track this live blog for previews, breaking news, analysis and regular updates. And if you’re announcing news at DattoCon22, please email me the details: [email protected]. We’ll be expanding this blog multiple times daly between now and the close of DattoCon 22.
DattoCon22: Kaseya and Datto Product Integrations, Executive Changes & More
Here’s the latest..
Jospeh Landes, CRO, Nerdio
7. Desktop as a Service (DaaS): I expect to connect with the Nerdio team — including Chief Revenue Officer Joseph Landes — sometime in the next 24 hours. As you may recall, MSPs are embracing Nerdio to launch and manage desktop as a service (DaaS) capabilities. The strategy involves a close partnership with Microsoft to help automate and monetize Azure Virtual Desktop and/or Windows 365. Looking ahead, Nerdio has confirmed plans for NerdioCon 2023…
Wes Spencer, FifthWall
6. Cyber Insurance Automation: FifthWall Solutions is developing an app that connects to 40 cyber insurance carriers at once, from what we’ve heard. Details may emerge at DattoCon22. Stay tuned. On a related note, FifthWall VP and Channel Chief Wes Spencer is confirmed to describe cyber insurance best practices at MSSP Alert Live 2022 next week.
Fred Voccola, CEO, Kaseya
5. Kaseya-Datto Integration Plan – Any Updates?: When Kaseya closed the $6.2 billion Datto acquisition in June 2022, CEO Fred Voccola vowed to hit numerous integration and pricing milestones. Among his statements:
- At least 17 workflow integrations between Datto products and the Kaseya platform were planned within the first month;
- 100% of commercial integrations were anticipated to be completed within 120 days;
- the list pricing on all Datto technology would be reduced by 10% (on average) or more on new purchases; and
- some products’ list prices will come down more than that, while others might remain the same.
Fast forward to DattoCon, and we’ll be checking to see how those integration commitments are moving along.
4. Kaseya and Datto product overlap – Which should MSPs choose?: We’re listening closely to see if Kaseya will have certain recommended use cases to help MSPs decide between the products:
- Professional Services Automation (PSA) Software: Kaseya BMS or Datto Autotask PSA?
- Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) Software: Kaseya VMS or Datto RMM?
- Data Protection: Datto’s unified continuity options or Kaseya’s Unitrends and Spanning options.
- Security Operations, Managed Detection and Response: Kaseya Managed SOC/RocketCyber or Datto Infocyte?
Side note: Product overlap is increasingly common in the MSP software market, and has always been common in the broader enterprise software market. In the MSP sector, for instance, both ConnectWise and N-able each have overlapping RMM products because of previous M&A deals. And in the enterprise sector, Oracle has multiple database management systems. And Microsoft juggled both Windows 95 and Windows NT Workstation 4.0 during the classic PC era. Still, the Kaseya-Datto product overlap generally seems more expansive.
Former Datto CTO Robert Petrocelli
3. Datto Executive Departures — Who Has Left: Some talent changes, employee churn and staff consolidation are inevitable in any major M&A deal. In this particular case, Datto CEO Tim Weller exited the business the day Kaseya closed the deal. Other noteworthy Datto executive departures include former Datto:
- CFO John Abbot (exited in June)
- General Counsel Emily Tabak Epstein (exited in July)
- Senior VP of Finance Nathaniel Katz (exited in July)
- Chief Customer Officer Chris McCloskey (exited in July)
- Chief Product Officer Radhesh Menon (exited in July)
- Chief Technology Officer Bob Petrocelli (exited in June)
All of those executives were listed on the Datto corporate website the day Kaseya announced plans to acquired Datto. They’ve since exited the business.
Should MSPs be concerned about those particular departures? Not in all cases. And that’s not a knock on talent that has departed. Rather, successful M&A requires the timely elimination of overlapping roles and responsibilities.
Among the history lessons MSPs should note: The $13.5 billion Symantec-Vertias merger of 2005 failed because overlapping roles remained in place for far too long, multiple executives involved in the deal have told me on multiple occasions.
Datto CMO Brooke Cunningham
Sanjay Singh, CRO, Datto
2. Datto Executives – Retaining Key People: So who from the Datto executive team is still on-board? Datto Chief Revenue Officer Sanjay Singh and Chief Marketing Officer Brooke Cunningham are still listed on that Datto executive webpage, while the following Datto executives are now featured as well:
- Ken Ringdahl, senior VP of software engineering and infrastructure;
- Russ Morton, GM of data protection;
- Kevin Sequeira, GM of PSA; and
- Marcus Ward, GM of networking.
Rob Rae, SVP, Datto
Ryan Weeks, CISO, Datto
Perhaps notably, neither Datto Senior VP Rob Rae nor Datto CISO Ryan Weeks are listed on that Datto executive page. Rob Rae is scheduled to host DattoCon22, though we don’t know if Kaseya has offered him any type of long-term retention package. Meanwhile, Ryan Weeks is on sabbatical — though plans for that workplace break were in place ahead of the M&A deal.
The bigger questions: What steps, if any, is Kaseya taking in terms of Datto talent retention for executives, engineers and support professionals? And did Kaseya CEO Fred Voccola’s comments during an employee town hall this past summer trigger any Datto employee churn? We’ll be poking around for answers.
1. Reminder – Send Your DattoCon22 News: Got updates to share? Email me the details: [email protected]. We’ll give the info a look and potentially include the news in an update to this blog.
from
https://clarkcountynewsnow.com/dattocon22-day-2-live-blog-kaseya-datto-and-msp-industry-news-as-it-happens-channele2e/
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