Since news broke that Autotask had been sold to a private equity firm, there has been a lot of discussion in the channel about what might happen next for the professional services automation (PSA) company. Rather than contribute to the gossip, I decided to go straight to the CEO himself, Mark Cattini, and get his thoughts on what's next for Autotask.
Not Like Other MSP Channel Deals
First, as I have previously written on this matter, it is my belief, as well as Mr. Cattini's, that the Autotask deal is different from many of the recent M&A transactions involving RMM companies. This was not an acquisition involving another technology company. For this reason, it stands apart from past M&A transactions where the buyer and seller have to merge their business models and their technologies. This is not the case with Autotask.
Vista Equity Partners is a private equity firm. They don't have technology to integrate. This fact alone makes this deal different from other MSP channel deals and should quiet any discussions that the company will lose its focus or that the technology is going to be somehow diluted. From what Cattini told me, that's not going to happen.
Same Leadership Team
M&A deals are notorious for causing a senior leadership change. This is also an issue I raised with Autotask's CEO. The company already went through a leadership change when Cattini came on board to replace founder and CEO Bob Godgart. The investment by Vista was simply the next logical step in Autotask's plans.
Product Roadmap and User Interface Next Up
Cattini mentioned that a new UI will be launched soon, and that the investment by Vista will enable Autotask to expedite it's product roadmap. If anything, I would think Autotask MSPs can expect their product roadmap wish list to become a reality sooner than they may have realized. According to Cattini, Autotask is going to be "expanding really quickly" over the coming months.
Interestingly, Cattini commented that the Autotask expansion may come from both organic R&D as well as mergers or acquisitions of their own. My mind immediately started contemplating what types of deals Autotask would be interested in, but that's for another article.
My conclusion, after speaking with Mark, is that Autotask MSPs should not expect a massive upheaval in terms of new management (that won't be happening) but that new features and improvements to the Autotask technology will be expedited as a result of the Vista investment. This should be welcome news to all those MSPs out there who may have had doubts.
