Five Companies That Came To Win This Week
For the week ending Feb. 14, CRN takes a look at the companies that brought their ‘A’ game to the channel including Schneider Electric, CyberArk, Dataminr, New Charter Technologies and SailPoint.
The Week Ending Feb. 14
Topping this week’s Five Companies that Came to Win is Schneider Electric for stepping up its efforts to help partners capitalize on the AI revolution with a new global AI and enterprise partner ecosystem organization.
Also making the list are CyberArk for a strategic acquisition in the identity governance space, Dataminr for launching a revamped partner program, New Charter Technologies for an acquisition that brings AI to MSP operations, and SailPoint for wrapping up a successful IPO.
Schneider Electric Launches Global AI Ecosystem Organization To Help Partners Capture AI Opportunity
Schneider Electric is ramping up its charge to help partners capitalize on the AI revolution with a new global AI and enterprise partner ecosystem organization.
“At Schneider Electric we recognize the transformative impact of the ongoing AI revolution and the significant opportunities it presents for our Strategic Alliances and Partner Ecosystem,” said Paul Tyrer, a 31-year Schneider Electric veteran who was named global vice president of the new AI Enterprise and Partner Ecosystem organization.
Tyrer, who was previously vice president of the IT channel ecosystem, said the new organization is charged with helping “partners and their customers fully capitalize” on the unique AI opportunity.
Schneider Electric also named Leslie Vitrano Hubright (pictured), previously director of global IT channel strategy and innovation, as vice president of global IT channel ecosystem.
Vitrano Hubright said the new AI Enterprise and Partner Ecosystem organization is aimed at accelerating the ability for Schneider Electric and its partners to deliver a new era of AI solutions and will be critical in developing new AI integrations and capabilities.
With Schneider Electric’s data center sustainability expertise, the company is uniquely positioned to help partners capture the AI opportunity with new consulting and services capabilities, Vitrano Hubright said. “Partners are asking for this because there is an appetite from their end customers to move faster globally with AI,” she said. “These new investments are going to pay off big time for partners.”
CyberArk Acquires Identity Governance Startup Zilla Security For Up To $175M
CyberArk makes this week’s Came to Win list for its announcement that it had acquired identity governance startup Zilla Security for up to $175 million.
For CyberArk, which develops identity security and access management technology, the acquisition will provide capabilities around automation and “accelerated identity compliance and provisioning” in various IT environments, according to the company.
The venture-backed Zilla Security offers a “modern” SaaS-based approach to identity governance and administration (IGA), CyberArk said in a news release.
That’s in contrast to “legacy” IGA that “was built primarily for on-premises environments, relying heavily on manual processes with slow, time-consuming deployments,” CyberArk said.
The acquisition deal includes $165 million in cash along with a potential $10 million earn-out, according to publicly traded CyberArk. In 2022, Zilla raised a $13.5 million Series A funding round led by Tola Capital and FirstMark Capital.
Dataminr Unveils Partner Program To Boost AI-Powered Risk Detection In The Channel
Returning to the topic of partner program launches, Dataminr wins kudos this week for debuting its revamped channel program with the goal of driving major opportunities for partners in AI-powered threat intelligence and risk detection.
The launch of the Dataminr Partner Network comes as many solution and service providers seek to find more accessible opportunities in bringing AI into the spheres of cybersecurity and risk reduction for their customers.
The program includes deal registration, a full-fledged partner portal and “healthy” margins, as well as a spiff incentive for the first time, Channel Chief Matthew Harrell (pictured) told CRN.
One crucial change Dataminr is making with the new program launch is to shift to a neutral compensation structure, so that internal salespeople can’t gain an added financial benefit for taking deals direct. Dataminr, in fact, is also implementing an incentive that aims to encourage its sales team to work more closely and do more deals with partners, Harrell said.
The new version of the Dataminr channel program is focused on partners including resellers and security service providers, but the company plans to add training later this year that will offer enablement for MSPs and MSSPs as well.
Solution provider New Charter Technologies this week acquired Boston-based startup Orchestrate AI, marking a significant step in the company’s strategy to enhance its MSP offerings and build the future of AI-driven IT solutions.
Orchestrate AI, which has been operating largely in stealth mode, offers an AI platform designed to fill gaps in the MSP AI vendor space, providing tailored solutions for efficient integration across various tools.
A key aspect of the Orchestrate AI acquisition is the ability to provide advanced AI-driven support tools. New Charter hopes to leverage Orchestrate AI’s platform to streamline processes, with initial tests showing that the platform can save up to 25 percent of time on help desk operations.
The acquisition is a critical move for Denver-based New Charter as it looks to stay ahead of the rapidly evolving AI landscape within the IT sector. It also adds to the M&A spree New Charter has been on since the start of the year. Last month New Charter acquired Minnesota-based co-managed MSP Verus and Melville, N.Y.-based ProTech IT.
Solution provider Consortium also wins a shoutout for its acquisition of cyber risk quantification startup, Metrics That Matter, with the aim of providing customers with a more objective and continuously updated view into their cybersecurity risk picture.
SailPoint Completes IPO, Boosting Fundraise To $1.32 Billion
SailPoint completed its initial public offering Thursday, becoming only the second cybersecurity vendor to go public since 2021.
The offering saw major demand from investors and the identity security firm priced its IPO shares at $23 a share. That’s above the previous expected range of $19 to $21 a share.
SailPoint sold 57.5 million shares in the offering, the company disclosed this week, raising $1.32 billion. Existing shareholders also sold 2.5 million shares in the offering, bringing the total amount raised in the IPO to $1.38 billion.
The IPO is the first in the cybersecurity industry in nine months, following data security vendor Rubrik’s IPO in April 2024. Prior to that, there hadn’t been a cybersecurity industry IPO since September 2021.
Founded in 2005, SailPoint previously went public in 2017 and operated as a publicly traded company until August 2022, when it was acquired by private equity firm Thoma Bravo for $6.9 billion.