Barracuda has acquired Evo Security, an identity and access management provider for MSPs. The acquisition adds more identity security capabilities to
BarracudaONE, Barracuda’s partner-focused security platform.
Evo Security brings IAM and privileged access management into a multi-tenant platform for MSPs. Its tools include MFA, single sign-on, help desk verification, RADIUS, and privileged access management for technician and end-user elevation. Barracuda said Evo’s technology will be added to BarracudaONE, while existing Evo MSP partners will continue to be supported.
Identity is becoming a bigger MSP issue
Identity has become a larger security problem for MSPs and their customers. Attackers are going after credentials, privileged accounts, and access paths because identity now sits across email, endpoints, cloud apps, and networks.
Rohit Ghai, CEO at Barracuda Networks, told ChannelE2E that, “The acquisition is about helping our partners capitalize on one of the fastest-growing and most important areas in cybersecurity today: identity. More and more, attackers are logging in rather than breaking in, which means identity has become central to cyber resilience.”
Ghai said Barracuda saw a gap in the market because many identity products were not built for how MSPs operate.
“At Barracuda, we’ve been on a mission to build BarracudaONE into the industry’s most complete partner-first security platform,” Ghai said. “We already had important identity capabilities within the platform, but we saw a clear gap in the market. Existing identity solutions are often complex, expensive, and not designed around how MSPs actually operate.”
What Barracuda gets with Evo Security
Barracuda is positioning the acquisition around identity resilience, which means helping partners manage who gets access, how privileges are granted, how identity systems are protected, and how identity-based attacks are detected.
The combined platform will connect Evo Security’s IAM and PAM capabilities with Barracuda SecureEdge ZTNA, Barracuda Entra ID Backup, and Barracuda Managed XDR.
Evo Security’s tools address authentication, access policies and privilege management. Barracuda SecureEdge ZTNA limits broad network access through identity-based controls. Barracuda Entra ID Backup protects Microsoft Entra ID users, groups, policies, and configurations from accidental or malicious changes. Barracuda Managed XDR adds detection across email, endpoint, network, and cloud environments to spot credential compromise, privilege escalation, and lateral movement.
The commercial opportunity for partners
For Barracuda partners, the main opportunity is building more identity security services. PAM is a big part of that because many customers need help controlling privileged access, verifying users, monitoring identity activity, and responding when credentials are misused.
“By bringing Evo Security’s capabilities into BarracudaONE, we’re giving partners an opportunity to expand into high-value identity security services while continuing to simplify operations through a unified platform,” Ghai said. “PAM in particular represents a strong growth opportunity because it’s an area where customers are actively looking for help and MSPs can deliver measurable business outcomes.”
Ghai added that Barracuda’s focus is to help partners grow revenue, increase customer value and improve profitability through a platform approach, instead of asking them to stitch together multiple point products.
Keeping Evo’s MSP model intact
Evo Security was built around MSP workflows, including multi-tenancy, technician privilege management, end-user elevation, and daily service delivery across many customers. Barracuda said that the model will remain important as Evo becomes part of BarracudaONE.
“One of the biggest reasons we were attracted to Evo Security is that it was built for MSPs from day one,” Ghai said. “Multi-tenancy, technician privilege management, end-user elevation, operational efficiency — those aren’t features added later. They’re foundational to the platform.”
Ghai said Barracuda does not want to disrupt what Evo partners already use. The goal is to bring Evo’s technology into BarracudaONE while keeping the MSP-focused workflow in place.
“In acquiring Evo Security, we’re not looking to change what made Evo successful,” Ghai said. “We’re looking to amplify it with Barracuda’s scale, resources and global reach. Our first priority is to ensure we don’t disrupt the experience partners already value.”
The deal also connects to the rise of agentic AI. Barracuda said the acquisition will help partners protect both human and non-human identities as AI systems, service accounts, and automated workflows expand across customer environments.
Services beyond MFA
The services opportunity for MSPs goes beyond MFA rollout. Ghai said many customers still treat identity security as a checklist item, even though identity-based attacks continue to change.
“The biggest opportunity is helping customers move beyond a checkbox approach to identity security,” Ghai said. “Many organizations think enabling MFA means they’re done. The reality is that identity attacks continue to evolve, and customers need a much more comprehensive strategy.”
That strategy can include privileged access management, authentication, access governance, help desk verification, identity monitoring, threat detection, and response. For MSPs, those areas can become recurring identity resilience services that sit alongside existing security offerings.
“The conversation shifts from selling individual tools to helping customers answer bigger questions: Who has access? How are privileges being controlled? How do we detect misuse early? How do we minimize the impact if an attacker gains access?” Ghai said.
The acquisition gives Barracuda a deeper IAM and PAM layer as identity becomes a more common entry point for attacks and a larger part of managed security services.
