CRN Exclusive: CloudJumper Expands Channel With First Acquisition

CloudJumper acquired an IT services business unit from an undisclosed seller, expanding its channel partner numbers and strengthening its position as a top cloud broker in the workspace as a service (WaaS) market.

The deal is CloudJumper’s first acquisition and is intended to boost CloudJumper’s growth with the addition of over 50 new managed service provider and ISV partners to the Garner, NC-based company’s partner list.

’This is definitely an operational acquisition to grow the number of seats we have - we are growing significantly,’ Max Pruger, chief sales officer for the WaaS company said in an interview with CRN.

[Related: Artisan Infrastructure Acquires Secure WaaS Platform Developer, Rebrands as Neverfail]

He added that, even with its new numbers post-acquisition the company is still projecting that it will double its revenue and partner count by the end of 2017.

The deal, which closed on the last day of December, was an all-cash transaction. Additional financial details of the acquisition were undisclosed.

’CloudJumper is a company that deserves every bit of success that they get, … they have been growing hand-over-teakettle,’ Dan Kolansky, director of marketing for Virtual Administrator, a Reston VA.-based CloudJumper partner said in an interview with CRN.

The acquisition is a great move for CloudJumper, Kolansky said, adding that it will help continue the growth trajectory the company has been on, and introduce the company’s offering to more MSPs that otherwise might not have known how to leverage it.

’I’ve been preaching [CloudJumper] for a long time,’ he said.

’This is MSP 4.0. Instead of managing the machines, [MSP’s can] provide end-users with a cloud workspace that gives them the opportunity to be free from the office. It gives offices the ability to move location, utilize working vacations, implement bring-your-own-device programs. The opportunities are endless. … Once you make that shift, their whole business changes,’ Kolansky said.

CloudJumper, which was featured on CRN’s 2016 Emerging Vendor’s list, was eyeing this acquisition for some time as a way to grow the company and increase the number of partners it works with Pruger said.

WaaS is still a young market that is ’set to explode,’ he said, but, as it continues to grow, more companies are realizing selling a service like WaaS comes with a higher cost than selling a software-based product.

’This is a services-based industry - it’s not a software-based industry, there are significant costs to delivering this. So, you need economies of scale to get the pricing that you need,’ Pruger said.

CloudJumper has that scale, he said, and although this deal was the company’s first, he said he expects the company will continue to make similar acquisitions in the future.

’As the market begins to mature, I think you will begin to see more consolidation, and we are going to drive that consolidation,’ Pruger said.

At the close of the deal, all five support staff for the IT business unit were integrated into CloudJumper’s ranks. Pruger said the company expects the acquisition to be 100 percent complete by the end of February.