Vista Equity Partners has acquired Jamf, which develops IT management software for Apple devices running macOS and iOS. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Jamf, led by CEO Dean Hager, has a big, fast-growing installed base. Among the key metrics to note:
- The company’s annual recurring revenue (ARR) grew more than 40 percent during the first three quarters of 2017 vs. the corresponding period of 2016. Actual revenue and profit figures, however, remain undisclosed.
- More than 13,000 businesses now run Jamf IT management tools, including 15 of the top 25 Fortune 500 companies, Jamf says.
- Roll all those customers together, and Jamf's software manages a combined 8 million Apple devices worldwide, the company says.
- The company also runs Jamf Nation, a massive community and annual conference for customers set for later this month.
Jamf has a partner program for resellers and integrators. But curiously, the company has not made a major push to engage MSPs, and I don't think their software is multi-tenant for MSPs and service providers (though I could be wrong).
Autotask and Jamf?
New Jamf parent Vista Equity also owns Autotask, which develops business automation and IT management software for MSPs. I concede this is a stretch on my part: I'm curious to see if Vista Equity connects the dots between Autotask and Jamf.
Most of Autotask's IT service provider (ITSP) partners mainly focus on Windows-centric device management, but there are surely pockets of macOS within that installed base. And iOS devices, no doubt, are prevalent everywhere.
Generally speaking, MSPs have failed to monetize and manage iOS devices (iPhone, iPad). In stark contrast, Jamf has serious momentum on the enterprise mobility management (EMM) front.
We've reached out to Vista Equity and Jamf for more details about the deal, and we'll update our coverage when we hear more.
