May 31, 2013

SolarWinds makes acquisition to fuel the small business market

With more businesses working to implement new technologies into daily operations, digital innovations such as cloud computing have grown in popularity. Companies that want to offer these organizations the best possible service might want to consider technology mergers and acquisitions. When the right opportunity is found, it can benefit both businesses and all of their customers.

Take for example, SolarWinds, an IT management software provider, which announced this week that it had acquired N-able. The technology acquisition will help SolarWinds strengthen its remote monitoring and management (RMM) offerings, according to a press release. N-able is a Canadian-based company that helps MSPs manage and secure their small businesses' IT infrastructure via the cloud.

Kevin Thompson, SolarWinds' President and CEO, said in a company press release that over the last 13 years, N-able has developed award-winning tools that have given it strong recognition in the industry. Additionally, the products have depth, breadth and are easy to use.

"As small businesses continue to turn to MSPs and other service providers to support their business-critical IT environments via the cloud, we believe that we are now well-positioned to extend our unique value proposition to this growing space and support these businesses' evolving IT management needs."

Thompson added that MSPs need a strong partner that can give them the tools to ensure their IT investments are being put to good use. Now, SolarWinds and N-able can be that solution. 

According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, SolarWinds paid $120 million in cash for N-able, which now will be a subsidiary. SolarWinds has already been growing over the last year, making a 2013 first-quarter profit of $22.9 million compared to $17.1 million during the same time frame in 2012.