5 Companies That Came To Win This Week

For the week ending Feb. 3, CRN takes a look at the companies that brought their ‘A’ game to the channel, including Kaseya-Datto, Accenture, Ingram Micro, Saviynt and Pax8.

The Week Ending Feb. 3

Topping this week’s Came to Win list is Kaseya-Datto for doubling down on its channel partners with a revamped partner program and new concierge service for partners.

Also making this week’s list is distributor Ingram Micro for providing services that help solution providers navigate Microsoft’s New Commerce Experience (NCE) program. Systems integration giant Accenture made a savvy acquisition that strengthens its expertise in the life sciences sector. And identity and access management tech developer Saviynt scored an impressive funding round.

And Pax8 makes this week’s list for hiring Rob Rae, longtime Datto executive and noted MSP advocate, for the newly created post of corporate vice president of community and ecosystems.

Kaseya-Datto Doubling Down On Partner Investments, Programs

Kaseya came under a lot of scrutiny last year because of its blockbuster $6.2 billion acquisition of rival Datto. This week Kaseya took some major steps toward making good on promises to provide MSPs with a high-level partnership and channel-friendly experience.

Kaseya said it is expanding its investments in partners, including launching a revamped partner program and unveiling a new white-glove concierge service for partners.

Kaseya has taken a few pages from Datto’s partner program playbook to enhance its tiered system for partners, budgeting about $3 million in market development funds and allowing customers to combine their Datto and Kaseya spending.

Kaseya now offers partner support from a five-person concierge team to address partner concerns and issues and is providing additional partner enablement resources—including a team to help MSPs put together price packages or security stacks for customers.

Kaseya also announced the return of the popular Matt Scully to the Datto business as a senior channel development manager. Scully worked at Datto between 2015 and 2020 first as a growth sales representative and later a channel development manager.

Ingram Micro Updates Cloud Marketplace To Help Microsoft Partners With NCE

Speaking of giving channel partners a hand, IT distributor Ingram Micro wins applause this week for rolling out enhancements to its Cloud Marketplace with the goal of easing how solution providers work with Microsoft Azure and the complexities around the vendor’s controversial New Commerce Experience (NCE) program.

Ingram Micro, for example, is adding Microsoft NCE billing configurations to simplify how partner-customers schedule, co-term and automate subscription commitments. The Ingram Micro Cloud Marketplace will have real-time, on-demand visibility for NCE promotions so partner-customers can activate new business faster and streamline purchasing, according to the distributor.

Ingram Micro is also offering Azure usage billing reports to help partner-customers save time on billing reconciliation. The reports provide cost visibility, a self-service ability to run periodic reports and real-time billing projection.

Ingram Micro executives say the marketplace updates are meant, in part, to show partner-customers the benefits of working with a distributor as opposed to working directly with a vendor. They also reflect Ingram Micro’s investments in software to help meet partner-customers’ needs, as with the distributor’s Xvantage platform unveiled last year.

Pax8 Hires Former Datto Exec, MSP Advocate Rob Rae

Pax8 scored a major personnel win this week when it hired Rob Rae, the longtime face of Datto who has built a reputation as a fierce advocate for MSPs. Rae is taking the role of corporate vice president of community and ecosystems, a new position at Denver-based Pax8.

In his new role, Rae will continue to improve and grow MSP relationships, provide guidance and consultation to implement new programs and partner with Pax8’s channel team on industry events and community operations. He will also be hosting Pax8’s inaugural Beyond 2023 conference in June.

Rae left his position as senior vice president of business development at Datto in October, just months after Kaseya completed its $6.2 billion acquisition of Datto. Rae had worked at Datto for nearly 10 years.

Accenture Acquires Bionest To Expand Bipharma Focus

IT services and systems integration giant Accenture this week continued the acquisition spree it has been on in recent years, buying Bionest, a New York-based strategy and consulting service provider to customers in the life sciences industry.

The acquisition brings to Accenture 46 science-focused consultants, executives and specialists in the U.S. and Europe. Bionest will become part of Accenture Strategy in the company’s life sciences practice.

Bionest has expertise in biomarker testing, helping bring medical innovations to patients, helping bring cell and gene therapies to market, and improving the use of digital technology in life sciences value chains and product life cycles, according to Accenture.

The acquisition is Accenture’s third this year, following the purchases in January of European regulatory-focused consultant SKS Group and Bellevue, Wash.-based, Oracle-focused digital supply chain consultant Inspirage.

Identity Security Firm Saviynt Lands $205 Million In Funding Round

Saviynt, which develops a “converged identity” cybersecurity platform, said this week that it raised $205 million in a new round of funding—an impressive feat at a time when venture capital has all but disappeared.

The company plans to use some of the new capital to accelerate sales through channel partners, CEO Sachin Nayyar told CRN. As of Jan. 1, the company has switched its midmarket accounts to a 100 percent channel model.

The new funding will be invested, in part, in hiring new staff for the company’s channel-facing team, Nayyar said. The company is aiming to boost its revenue from “channel-led and influenced deals” by 300 percent in 2023 compared with last year.

Nayyar, who previously served as Saviynt’s CEO until 2018, just returned to that role. He succeeds Amit Saha, who has moved into the post of chief growth officer.