Amazon AWS Cloud MSP Acquired: Rackspace Buys Onica -

Rackspace has acquired Onica, a Top 100 Public Cloud MSP focused on Amazon Web Services (AWS). Financial terms were not disclosed -- but this was likely a substantial deal based on Onica's own growth in recent years.

Onica, founded in 2014, raised $20 million in 2017 and then acquired DevOps specialist TriNimbus Technologies in 2018. That deal united two AWS Premier Consulting Partners. Fast forward to present day. Onica, backed by more than 350 consultants across North America, offers strategic advisory, architecture and engineering, and application development services to AWS clientele.

Rackspace, meanwhile, is the poster child for public cloud managed services. The company's MSP expertise expands across AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and several other ecosystems.

Rackspace Acquires Onica: Executive Perspectives

Kevin Jones, CEO of Rackspace, weighed in on the Onica acquisition with this statement:

“As a cloud pioneer, Onica has established itself as one of the largest pure-play AWS consultancies, with an unmatched reputation for true capability leadership with AWS and customers.”

Added Stephen Garden, CEO of Onica:

“By combining our capabilities with Rackspace’s global presence, resources and scale, we will be better positioned to achieve our mission of helping customers innovate using AWS. We pride ourselves on delivering results for customers, and in Rackspace we have found a partner that shares our passion for providing a customer-obsessed experience.”

The deal is expected to close in late fourth quarter of 2019. Garden and Onica CTO Tolga Tarhan will continue to lead the Onica team, reporting to Sid Nair, general manager of Americas at Rackspace.

Rackspace Business Evolution

Rackspace, acquired by private equity firm Apollo for $4.3 billion in 2016, has been buying MSP, cloud, SaaS application, security and automation expertise in recent years. Key buyouts have included RelationEdge, Datapipe, and TriCore Solutions.

In April 2019, Rackspace named Kevin Jones to succeed Joe Eazor as CEO. There have also been rumors about Rackspace exploring a potential IPO.

Additional insights from Joe Panettieri.