Channel Brief: SolarWinds Goes Private in $4.4B Deal

Since 2020, former AppDynamics CEO Jyoti Bansal has been running two startups, Harness and Traceable. Harness helps companies manage code and Traceable software observes where companies are unintentionally letting out sensitive data, according to CNBC reporting. And now, Bansal says, he is merging the two companies to expand sales reach and bolster against competition from IBM and Akamai, among others.

The merger will take place late this month or early next, CNBC said. The resulting company will have 1,100 employees, $250 million in expected 2025 annualized revenue, a 50% growth rate and a valuation of about $5 billion.

Through the combination, Bansal said, Harness will be able to sell more products to customers, and Traceable will be better insulated from competitors like HashiCorp, which IBM has agreed to buy, and Akamai, which acquired security startup Noname last year.

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Grab your coffee. Here's what you need to know today.

Today’s Tech, Channel and MSP News

1. Turn/River buys SolarWinds: SolarWinds on Friday announced it would be acquired by Turn/River Capital in an all-cash transaction valued at $4.4 billion, or $18.50 per share. According to StockTitan.net, this represents a 35% premium over SolarWinds's 90-day volume-weighted average closing price ending February 6, 2025. Upon completion of the transaction, SolarWinds’ common stock will no longer be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and SolarWinds will become a privately held company, the company said in a statement. The firm will continue to operate under the SolarWinds name and brand and remain headquartered in Austin, Texas.

2. Compliance Scorecard launches MSP thought leadership webcast series: Compliance Scorecard is launching a webcast series that helps MSPs turn security, compliance and risk management into a competitive advantage. The year-long live stream series debuts this week with a webcast covering the importance of governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) on February 13. Check it out!

3. Pure Storage revamps partner program: Pure Storage last week unveiled an enhanced reseller partner program that aims to boost partner profitability through new training, selling and data analysis features, the company said. New training and enablement features, including solution-oriented selling, data insights, and technical training, as well as digital sales and solution tools, are available through the enhanced program.

4. At-Bay launches new InsurSec solutions to fight fraud: Cybersecurity insurance tech firm At-Bay last week introduced two new InsurSec solutions to fight email-based fraud and unlock higher insurance coverage sub-limits, the company said. At-Bay’s proprietary Fraud Defense solution, which is available with every Cyber and Tech E&O policy, stops email-based fraud and can unlock up to double the financial fraud coverage sub-limits. The firm's At-Bay MDR for Email will allow businesses to boost their financial fraud sub-limits up to $1 million.

5. New MSP360 RMM features: Managed services, backup and IT management solutions provider MSP360 last week released RMM 2.2, which includes updates to its remote monitoring and management solution, MSP360 RMM. Key enhancements include the introduction of Alert Profiles, which enable customers to efficiently manage alerts across organizations and automatically trigger remediation actions in response to system issues. Previously, MSP360 RMM could only detect and report issues. With the new version, MSP360’s customers can now implement a resolution scenario by taking action on an alert. 

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