Nearly two years to the day after Barracuda acquired Intronis in a $65 million symbiotic deal that transitioned the company from a VAR-leaning network security provider to fully engaged with managed services providers (MSPs), we have a rebranding of the business.
From now on the former Intronis, which has been operating as Barracuda’s MSP business unit, will be known as Barracuda MSP. This one was easy to see coming -- the neat and tidy merger meshed Barracuda’s network security focus with Intronis’ model to engage MSPs with cloud-based backup, disaster recovery and business continuity (BC/DR) services. With Intronis in tow, Barracuda gained a ready-made transition path from VARs to MSPs and, in turn, Intronis landed the strategic growth partner it needed.
“Since our acquisition of Intronis, we have expanded our commitment to the managed services marketplace through international growth, new offerings, and partner support models,” said Brian Babineau, Barracuda MSP's senior vice president and general manager.
One year into the merger, Babineau wrote in a blog post that the milestone to that point was growth through product and geographic expansion. Year two, he said, would see more research and development.
“Shifting from one product to four offerings, two of which were security-related — a market segment that had not been a target of Intronis’ core business, and entering a new geography is akin to building two additions to a house while a family is still living in it,” he said.
“In our case, we added several new floors (the products) and expanded the bottom floor to cover more of the lot (our international growth). We wanted to grow and transform our house while keeping it comfortable for everyone inside (our employees and existing partners).”
Now in the ensuing year, Barracuda has more to say about the merger’s affect on its overall business. The company claims its MSP business has increased billings (it didn’t provide supporting figures), expanded its partner base by 25 percent and now sells its goods and services through U.K. and Western European MSPs.
Two new education initiatives aim to help Barracuda's MSPs grow their businesses:
- SmarterMSP is a global destination website to help MSPs improve their business and stay current with IT channel industry trends.
- Ready, Set, Managed! is an interactive educational and networking program for VARs and MSPs to learn best practices for successfully growing their managed services operations.
Babineau’s year-ago blog had a prescient aspect to it. MSPs, he said, have an “increased appetite” for security, and while BC/DR has always been “top of mind” for them, the impetus has changed with the rise in cyberattacks.
“It reaffirms that we’re on the right track and that our vision for a complete solution is resonating with MSPs,” he said at the time. It certainly appears he was spot-on.
