New Veeam CEO William H. Largent: Who Is He?

Insight Partners' $5 billion buyout of Veeam Software, the 28th M&A deal ChannelE2E has covered in 2020, calls for the cloud data protection, backup and disaster recovery (BDR) software company to have a new CEO -- namely, William H. Largent. But who is Largent, and how might he manage Veeam?

The answers to those questions should give Veeam partners -- VARs, MSPs, cloud services providers and strategic alliance members -- some peace of mind.

Perhaps most importantly, Largent is a 12-year veteran of Veeam. He most recently was VP of operations at the data protection company. That means he's intimately familiar with all of Veeam's day-to-day functions, focus areas and key team members.

As such, partners should expect some consistency as Insight Partners strives to complete the acquisition this quarter; Veeam relocates its headquarters from Switzerland to New York; and as the company prepares for the VeeamOn 2020 conference in May.

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More good news: Insight has had an ownership stake in Veeam since January 2019. Translation: The private equity firm already knows Largent and the Veeam executive team quite well. That also means Insight likely backs Veeam's partner strategy (although, disappointingly, the M&A announcement didn't mention the channel partner program).

Largent also has financial, M&A and IPO know-how. A former CFO and audit committee member for multiple companies, Largent's financial experience should allow him to work closely with Insight Partners while also balancing R&D, partner program budgeting and other financial nuances that can make-or-break a business's performance.

Still, Largent and Insight Partners will need to move quickly and efficiently. One of Veeam's top goals is U.S. expansion. But the U.S. data protection market is flooded with numerous entrenched rivals and upstarts navigating the market.