Data protection, backup and disaster recovery (BDR) technology provider Infrascale has named Russell P. Reeder as CEO and overhauled its C-suite. The moves come as Infrascale and multiple rivals seek to differentiate in the very crowded market for data protection services, and multiple private equity firms mull more acquisitions and exits in the sector.
In addition to naming a new CEO, Infrascale's new hires/executive appointments include:
- Brian Kuhn as Chief Operating Officer;
- Robert Peterson as Chief Financial Officer;
- Carolyn Kress as Chief People Officer;
- Lindsay Haun as Vice President of Global Customer Success; and
- Adam Berger as Vice President of Global IT and Cloud Operations.
Many of the executives have cloud and private equity experience, including earlier stints at OVHcloud and Route 66 Ventures -- one of the financial firms that backs Infrascale.
In a prepared statement, Reeder said:
“I am excited by the opportunity to build upon the success that Infrascale has seen to date. The company’s technology is recognized by experts as industry-leading, our partner and customer base is solid, and we have a smart, motivated and committed global team that can deliver. It’s the ultimate recipe for success – the right market, people, customers and technology.”
Infrascale founder and former CEO, Ken Shaw Jr., is now an advisor to the company.
Infrascale: Business Reach, Competition
Infrascale has a niche footprint in the MSP software market, and briefly enjoyed most favorite nation status with ConnectWise. But ConnectWise ultimately worked with multiple BDR providers, and data protection rivals such as Datto gained critical mass with MSPs.
For Infrascale, that likely means focusing on partner niches far beyond the SMB/MSP sector, ChannelE2E believes. Infrascale says it protects over 350 Petabytes of data for over 70,000 customers and 250,000 devices across nine private data centers and multiple public cloud providers, including Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform and Microsoft Azure.
Still, the data protection market is crowded with alternatives in the SMB, midmarket and enterprise sectors. M&A activity and private equity investments have been frequent, though valuations likely vary widely based on company health, growth rates, IP and market share.
Among the key moves and players to watch:
- Acronis is now backed by Goldman Sachs.
- Axcient remains private equity backed and hyper-focused on MSPs, though we're curious to see if or when ownership will explore next M&A moves...
- Rivals such as ArcServe and StorageCraft, among others, are believed to be up for sale.
- Insight Partners recently acquired Veeam for roughly five times annual revenue.
- MSP platform providers Barracuda MSP, Kaseya and SolarWinds MSP each own backup platforms.
- ConnectWise also has some backup capabilities from the recent Continuum acquisition -- though it's a safe bet ConnectWise will continue working with third-parties.
- And Datto is believed to be pursing a potential IPO or financial event in the first half of 2020.
- Note: Track all technology M&A activity here.
Infrascale: What's Next for Data Protection Company
Where does that competitive landscape leave Infrascale? Current Investors Route 66 Ventures and Carrick Capital say they have "committed to support the company’s accelerated growth plans following strong operational and financial performance, and the new additions to the leadership team."
New CEO Reeder has extensive M&A and exit experience. For instance, Reeder previously led exits for content-on-demand and digital publishing platform LibreDigital (acquired by RR Donnelly), and cloud hosting business MediaTemple (acquired by GoDaddy).
It's a safe bet Infrascale is seeking to strengthen its business while ultimately seeking a buyer, ChannelE2E believes.
