Barracuda Networks has promoted COO Hatem Naguib to succeed BJ Jenkins as CEO. Jenkins has exited Barracuda to join Palo Alto Networks as president, but remains on Barracuda's board of directors.
Barracuda Networks, backed by private equity firm Thoma Bravo, has successfully pivoted its channel partner business model toward MSPs in recent years. Naguib has been part of Barracuda's executive team during that pivot toward MSP partnerships.
Fast forward to August 2021, and Barracuda now competes vs. security companies as well as many MSP platform providers such as ConnectWise, Datto, Kaseya, N-able and NinjaRMM, among others. Ironically, Thoma Bravo also owns ConnectWise and holds a significant investment in N-able, which spun out of SolarWinds in July 2021.
Barracuda CEO Transition: Executive Perspectives
In a prepared statement about the Barracuda Networks CEO transition, Thoma Bravo Partner Chip Virnig said:
“Hatem has been instrumental in the successful cloud transformation of Barracuda over the past few years through his vision and thought leadership for Barracuda’s leading security solutions and by continually expanding its operational capabilities to meet the security challenges faced by businesses and institutions today. We are excited to support Hatem and the Barracuda team as they continue to drive rapid customer expansion and accelerate revenue growth. On behalf of Thoma Bravo, I want to thank BJ Jenkins for his leadership and for his ongoing commitment to Barracuda.”
Also in a prepared statement, new Barracuda Networks CEO Hatem Naguib (pictured at top of page) specifically mentioned a continued reliance on MSP partners:
“Barracuda has never been in a stronger position to take advantage of the opportunities ahead of us and our sales momentum is increasing each month... Barracuda’s integrated and leading security platform offers our MSPs and customers a holistic approach to solve the diverse security challenges they are facing. I am honored to lead the company forward at such a pivotal and exciting time in its journey.”
Barracuda MSP Partner Strategy: Consistent Executive Leadership
In addition to Naguib's commitment to MSPs, Barracuda Networks GM Brian Babineau has led the company’s MSP solutions strategy since 2016.
