Source: www.govinfosecurity.com – Author:
Business Continuity Management / Disaster Recovery , Governance & Risk Management
CEO Anand Eswaran Talks Investors, Innovation and Data Resilience Leadership Michael Novinson (MichaelNovinson) • December 5, 2024
Veeam closed a $2 billion secondary offering on a $15 billion valuation to diversify the vendor’s investor base in preparation for an initial public offering.
See Also: Report: The State of Cloud Data Security 2023
The Seattle-based data resilience stalwart said bringing backers like TPG into the fold alongside majority owner Insight Partners will make it easier for Veeam to pursue strategic mergers or acquisitions and continue to drive profitable growth, said CEO Anand Eswaran. The deal marks a tripling in Veeam’s valuation over the past half-decade, with Insight initially buying the company for $5 billion in early 2020.
“The intent was very simple: diversifying our investors,” Eswaran told Information Security Media Group. “Right now, we are 100% owned by Insight. Insight will continue to be the controlling investor in Veeam. It’s a fabulous partnership, but it was time to dive in on more blue-chip investors who will stay not just for the next milestone, but for the longer-term journey as well.”
Is Industry-Transformative M&A in Veeam’s Future?
Eswaran said diversifying Veeam’s investor base ensures the company has backers aligned with its vision and offers liquidity for long-term stakeholders. TPG’s cultural alignment and expertise in scaling multi-product companies make them an ideal partner. This diversification not only prepares the company for public markets but also enhances its financial flexibility for potential industry-transformative M&A deals (see: Commvault, Rubrik, Cohesity Lead Data Resilience: Forrester).
“Seventy-seven percent of the Fortune 500 own Veeam in some capacity,” Eswaran said. “We have a long runway of adding more value to every single one of them and getting more of our products for all of those customers. And as a consequence of it, we foresee a long runway of accelerating profitability.”
Eswaran said Veeam has taken a disciplined approach to M&A, prioritizing customer value and cultural fit over merely growing market share. The acquisition of Coveware exemplifies this strategy, Eswaran said, enabling Veeam to integrate ransomware recovery capabilities into its offerings. Future M&A targets for Veeam include SaaS protection, security adjacencies and generative AI-driven innovations.
“We don’t believe in M&A for the sake of buying share,” Eswaran said. “I have a simple lens, which is, ‘Is this company or tech we buy accretive to our customers? Does it add more value to our customers, and does it complement and accrue to the Veeam product suite?'”
Data resilience has become a critical priority for organizations, expanding beyond traditional backup and recovery to also encompass portability, security and intelligence, Eswaran said. He emphasized the importance of protecting Kubernetes and SaaS workloads, which are increasingly critical as organizations modernize their IT environments, while providing an “easy button” for data portability across platforms.
“Data resilience has gone from being an IT decision to a board priority,” Eswaran said. “This is where decisions around data resilience are made, not just with the CIO, but with the CIO and a CISO in the same place, along with the board.”
How Veeam Plans to Play in Cybersecurity
As the lines between data resilience and cyber blur, Veeam is integrating with platforms like Splunk, CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks, he said. The buy of Coveware provides ransomware protection, including forensic analysis, extortion negotiation and recovery processes. Veeam is also exploring adjacencies like data governance, classification and secure data management to enhance client value.
“What is an end-to-end ransomware recovery and protection platform?” Eswaran asked. “Part of that would be deep API-level integrations with companies like Splunk, CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks.”
Veeam meticulously tracks operational and financial KPIs including customer retention, cross-sell and upsell performance, deal sizes and sales productivity to ensure sustainable growth and efficiency, he said. The company also tracks customer engagement by geography and product to optimize its go-to-market strategy and balance innovation and profitability, according to Eswaran.
For CISOs, Eswaran stressed the importance of aligning backup and cybersecurity teams, automating data resilience processes, and conducting frequent simulations to ensure readiness and reduce impact. Eswaran also highlighted the need to adopt a comprehensive view of data resilience, encompassing security, portability and intelligence.
“It’s not a question of if you’re going to get breached,” Eswaran said. “It’s a question of when you’re going to get breached. And the question is, ‘Does every company have a plan for resilience? And what is it for them?'”
Original Post URL: https://www.govinfosecurity.com/veeam-closes-2b-offering-to-boost-data-resilience-eyes-ipo-a-26985
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