5 Things to Know About ConnectWise’s New CEO Manny Rivelo

ConnectWise has named Manny Rivelo as CEO, succeeding Jason Magee, the top executive who has served in that role since ConnectWise was acquired by private equity firm Thoma Bravo.

While ConnectWise has said that Magee will be on hand for IT Nation in November, all eyes are on the company to ascertain what’s next for the MSP tools platform and community organization.

MSPs privately complain that once a vendor is acquired by private equity, innovation slows down.

ConnectWise is on the timeline for a recapitalization or sale by its private equity (PE) owner Thoma Bravo, which acquired it in February 2019 for an estimated $1.5 billion.

If that’s what’s afoot, Thoma Bravo’s exit could come in several different forms – a sale to another PE firm, a sale to or merger with another technology vendor (possibly a cybersecurity vendor, given the talk earlier this year of a potential Barracuda/N-able deal), or an initial public offering (IPO).

But it's also possible Thoma Bravo may not be looking to sell ConnectWise in the near term. Thoma Bravo could hold ConnectWise and further invest in the company. ConnectWise's recent acquisitions of Axcient and Skykick could be clues as to the trajectory of that approach. Or Thoma Bravo could merge ConnectWise with another of its portfolio companies or another that it plans to acquire in the future. Again, a cybersecurity company may make sense. Thoma Bravo claims to have one of the largest cybersecurity portfolios in private equity and it also includes investments in SonicWall, N-able, Barracuda and Sophos.

The naming of Manny Rivelo to the top job at ConnectWise could offer some clues as to the strategy going forward. Here are five things you should know about Manny Rivelo.

Rivelo announced his change in job status in a two-sentence long post on LinkedIn, saying “I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as Chief Executive Officer at ConnectWise! I look forward to helping IT solution providers thrive over the coming decade.”

Rivelo’s most recent job was as CEO of Forcepoint, a cybersecurity vendor with an active partner program that includes service providers. While no U.S. based service providers are listed in the company’s directory as of September 24, 2024, there are 12 service provider partners in Europe, South America and other locations. These service providers are listed under the partner type MSSP.

Rivelo’s accomplishments at Forcepoint included the sale of the company’s government business, navigating through the initial pandemic years, and driving the company’s organizational and technological transformation, according to Francisco Partners, the private equity owner of Forcepoint.

Until August 2024, Rivelo also served as senior operating partner at Francisco Partners, another private equity firm. Portfolio companies of Francisco Partners include Forcepoint and also SonicWall. Is that a clue to a cybersecurity company that may merge with ConnectWise? We’ll keep our eyes out and update you with anything we learn.

Rivelo also served as an executive at Cisco, including some time in the role of senior vice president for enterprise systems and operations in enterprise, commercial and small business – a role that included channel. Another Cisco veteran, Michelle Ragusa-McBain, referred to Rivelo as an “old friend” in a LinkedIn post and pointed out that Francisco Partners is one of the lead investors in the company where she now serves as Global Channel Chief, Sonic Wall.

ChannelE2E will be following further developments closely and we will bring you the news as we uncover it.