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Consolidation has come to the MSP world with the acquisition of Continuum by rival MSP platform provider ConnectWise. The acquisition was announced at ConnectWise’s annual conference in Orlando on October 30. In addition to Continuum, ConnectWise acquired another MSP, ITBoost. Both Continuum and ConnectWise are owned by the same private equity firm, Thoma Bravo, which makes it easy to connect the dots for this acquisition and the creation of an MSP platform provider powerhouse. The companies will operate under the ConnectWise brand name. The combined organization has 2,000 employees, 16 offices, and more than 30,000 customers globally.
The company will continue to be led by ConnectWise CEO Jason Magee. Reportedly, Continuum CEO Michael George will leave the company.
This announcement shakes up the MSP provider landscape and could be a harbinger of future consolidation in that industry. That is speculation, albeit speculation from publications that closely cover the MSP space. Companies that may be ripe for consolidation in that space include Datto and Kaseya, both owned by private equity firms.
Scott’s Upshot
This is quite a surprise having just attended the Continuum Navigate conference two weeks ago in Las Vegas. If this deal was brewing, there was no indication that change was in the air. It was interesting, however, to see competitors such as ConnectWise and Datto in the exhibit area.
It’s unlikely this acquisition will have a negative effect on office technology dealers currently doing business with Continuum as the combined strength of the two organizations—ConnectWise and Continuum—will be an asset. Of course, much depends on how the integration goes between the two organizations and that’s a story that’s going to take some time to play out.
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