Acronis CEO Sheds Light On Investments For MSP Growth

‘The key message we are trying to share here at this event is how we can simplify everything you have to do to protect your end customers,’ said Acronis CEO Patrick Pulvermueller. ‘We all have that scarcity of talent and, by simplifying things, we can make things easier and create a lot of benefit for your business.’

[Video Transcript]

CRN: Hi, everybody. Welcome back to Acronis #Cyberfit Summit here in Miami. I’m Diana Blass with CRN. Over the past year, Acronis has aggressively expanded its footprint in the cyber market. What does this mean for the future of the company and most importantly, Acronis partners? Here to tell us more is CEO Patrick Pulvermueller. Thanks for your time today.

Patrick Pulvermueller: Thanks for having me.

CRN: What is the key message that you’re most excited to share with those here at the show?

Pulvermueller: Really, the key message we are trying to share here at this event is how we can simplify everything you have to do to protect your end customers. We all have that scarcity of talent and, by simplifying things, we can make things easier and create a lot of benefit for your business.

CRN: Well, let’s dig further into the ways that you’re simplifying this process. One I think is interesting is through the new integrations that you have. What’s the value here? What kind of partners are you working with today, [and], interestingly, some are your competitors?

Pulvermueller: Yeah, absolutely. But the the beauty of the integration, and there are more than 60 integrations right now—and we add about five integrations per quarter almost—the beauty of that integration is to make the system administrator’s, the technician’s, life easier. They only have to learn an interface once; they don’t have to learn it multiple times. And all of these efficiency gains are very, very important for our MSPs because they have to measure the complexity. So one of the partners we’re working with, for example, is ConnectWise, a very valued, very strategic partner for us, because they expand our offering, especially in adjacent areas.

CRN: So your data centers now that you’re building out, talk more about the opportunity here that you’re providing for partners.

Pulvermueller: In total right now we have 52. In just the last 12 months we’ve built more than 15 new locations. And the reason we do this is very simple. Due to COVID, people started to move where they actually want to live. And therefore you have to be compliant where the employees are, where your data is, at the same time you have your end customers here locally. And that’s where our solution comes into play because we can cover you and can protect you, no matter where you might be around the world.

CRN: And now to the massive amounts of funds that you’re raising from investors, the $3.5 billion valuation that Acronis has as a company, what does this mean for your growth going forward and how are you bringing partners along for that ride?

Pulvermueller: So the three areas we invest in are, No. 1, continuous research and development. Why are we doing this? Because we want to offer the best solution for the MSPs and the service providers in general to serve the end customer. Second, we are a truly global company. So we want not only to offer you the solution where your end customers might be, but we also want, obviously, to be available to you as an MSP no matter where you might be based around the world. And the third is really in the infrastructure I talked about already. I mean, building 52 data centers, there is a tremendous amount of money you need to invest. And not every data center is profitable right now because we build so many in parallel, and it takes some time for the consumption to catch up.

CRN: How excited are you for Acronis going forward, looking ahead at what‘s to come for thechannel?

Cramer Snuggs, Founder, Cascade Technologies: This event that we’re at now has been the biggest change that I think I’ve seen from leadership—their involvement with their partners. And traditionally, we wouldn’t see the CEO walking through the hallway and shaking hands with partners, but we’re seeing that this year, and Patrick has been very involved. He’s made it very clear that he wants feedback. At one moment during the show he shared with the entire attendance his personal email address at Acronis. And so what I’m seeing is leadership is listening to the partners, and they’re pivoting and making changes to the platform that will greatly affect the partners. It’s extremely exciting.

CRN: For more coverage here from Acronis #Cyberfit Summit in Miami, be sure to follow along on CRN.com. Until next time, I’m Diana Blass.