Datto: A Complex Machine With Lots Of Moving Parts

MSP platform provider Datto is considering a possible sale of the company after it received interest from private equity firms, according to a late-Wednesday report by Bloomberg.

Norwalk, Conn.-based Datto is working with a financial adviser to solicit interest from potential equity firms, according to Bloomberg.

Until recently, few outside the managed service provider business had heard of Datto. Indeed, few really understood MSPs in general despite their quietly becoming key providers of IT services to businesses large and small who have learned the value of leveraging managed services and consumption pricing to improve their operations.

That changed in the last couple years as providers of MSP-focused platforms, including Datto, became the targets of ransomware attacks aimed ultimately at the large number of businesses served by MSPs, but which were launched via the MSP platforms.

Datto, which provides a range of tools targeting how MSPs run their businesses and support customers, also became widely known, at least among the investor community, for its 2020 IPO, giving it a high profile in an industry known as a stronghold of privately held businesses.

Datto may be the target of an acquisition bid by its largest shareholder Vista Equity Partners, by another private equity firm, by big pocked competitors such as Kaseya or ConnectWise, or some other company. In any case, the IT world has not heard the last from this company. For more on where Datto sits in the industry and the financial community, click through the slideshow.