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Rackspace IPO Plan: How Multi-Cloud MSP Pivoted Under Private Equity Ownership

Rackspace Technology today confirmed plans for a potential IPO (initial public offering). But how exactly has the technology service provider evolved its business since going private in 2016?

The short answer involves an aggressive push into multi-cloud managed services for Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Microsoft Azure. But Rackspace's business evolution -- under private equity owner Apollo Global Management since 2016 -- involved multiple changes.

In Rackspace's Form S-1 SEC filing today, the company revealed four business evolutions since being acquired and going private in 2016. They include:

1. Core offerings and service expertise: Key expansion areas have involved multi-cloud services, professional services, managed security and data services. Key infrastructure partners include AWS, Google, Microsoft and VMware, and application partners such as Oracle, Salesforce, SAP and others.

Rackspace CEO Kevin M. Jones
Rackspace CEO Kevin M. Jones

2. Go-to-market. In 2016, sales processes were focused on the sale of a narrow group of point products, most notably our OpenStack Public Cloud and Single Tenant (managed hosting) offerings, the company says. Today, the sales process uses a professional services-driven approach, providing holistic multicloud solutions to meet customers’ objectives and evolving those solutions over the full lifecycle of their cloud journey. Rackspace also increased its focus on serving enterprise customers, defined as companies that generate $1 billion or more in revenue per year.

3. Investment in proprietary technology and automation capabilities: These include automation, artificial intelligence, predictive analytics and proprietary tools that make Rackspace services "even more reliable and easier to use and extend our advantage over both our competitors and our customers’ ability to replicate these efficiencies on their own," the company claims.

4. Management team. Rackspace in April 2019 announced the hiring of CEO Kevin Jones. And in July 2019, the company announced the hiring of CFO Dustin Semach and COO Subroto Mukerji. Additional hires were made throughout the organization, the company notes.

Fast forward to present day, and Rackspace has revealed these financial details as part of a plan for a potential IPO.

Track all Rackspace news here on ChannelE2E.

Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri is co-founder & editorial director of MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E, the two leading news & analysis sites for managed service providers in the cybersecurity market.