Cybersecurity Providers Facing Partner Anxiety Amid M&A Frenzy

There’s no denying the almost nonstop M&A frenzy among cybersecurity providers.

Just last month, Barracuda Networks announced it’s being acquired by global investment firm KKR in a deal reportedly worth $4 billion. To close out April, Synopsys announced it’s acquiring WhiteHat Security, which rebranded to NTT Application Security last year, for $330 million in cash. And Tenable is scooping up Bit Discovery for $44.5 million.

And of course, while not pure-play security, there’s Kaseya’s massive acquisition of Datto.

So where does this M&A whirlwind among cybersecurity providers leave partners? How do channel leaders make sure they’re not left with the short end of the stick?

Our cybersecurity roundtable at the Channel Partners Conference and Expo addressed this topic. This is the first in a series of articles highlighting various topics addressed by the roundtable.

Panelists included:

• Scott Barlow, Sophos‘ vice president of global MSP and cloud alliances.
• Jon Bove, Fortinet’s vice president of channel sales.
• Justin Crotty, Netenrich‘s senior vice president of channels.
• Kristi Houssiere, Trellix‘s senior director of global channel strategy and operations.
• Matt Lantinga, NTT Application Security‘s vice president of sales and global strategic accounts.
• Joe Sykora, Proofpoint’s senior vice president of worldwide channels and partner sales.
• Brian Thomas, Malwarebytes’ vice president of worldwide MSP and channel programs.

See our slideshow above for more from the roundtable about M&A among cybersecurity providers.