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Yes—the reported ConnectWise–Axcient transaction was real. CRN reported on August 27, 2024, that ConnectWise was finalizing a purchase of Axcient. On September 10, ConnectWise announced a definitive agreement to acquire Axcient, alongside its acquisition of SkyKick. The reported $400 million–$500 million price was never confirmed in that official announcement.
What CRN reported on August 27, 2024
CRN reported, citing two people with knowledge of the transaction, that ConnectWise was finalizing a deal to buy Axcient. This was a reported pending transaction—not an announcement that the deal had closed.
CRN’s sources put the potential purchase price at approximately $400 million to $500 million. They also attributed the following operating figures to Axcient:
- Approximately $75 million in revenue.
- Nearly $30 million in EBITDA.
- Approximately 25% year-over-year growth.
Those figures were source-attributed estimates, not audited financial information published by either company. ConnectWise CEO Jason Magee and a ConnectWise spokesperson did not respond to CRN’s requests for comment, while Axcient declined to comment. The official ConnectWise announcement that followed did not confirm the valuation, revenue, EBITDA or growth figures.
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What ConnectWise later confirmed
On September 10, 2024, ConnectWise announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Axcient. The same release said ConnectWise had acquired SkyKick. ConnectWise expected the Axcient transaction to close in the following weeks; the announcement was not a precise closing notice.
Later company materials describe Axcient as a ConnectWise company and refer to ConnectWise as having acquired it. That supports the conclusion that the transaction proceeded, although the precise legal closing date and final consideration are not established by the cited announcements.
| Date | What happened | What it establishes |
|---|---|---|
| August 27, 2024 | CRN reported a pending deal based on two sources. | The transaction was being finalized according to people familiar with it; price and operating figures were not publicly confirmed. |
| September 10, 2024 | ConnectWise announced a definitive agreement to acquire Axcient and announced its SkyKick acquisition. | The substance of the Axcient transaction was officially confirmed; no purchase price was disclosed. |
| Following weeks | ConnectWise said it expected the Axcient transaction to close. | Expected timing, not a stated legal closing date. |
| Later company materials | Axcient was described as a ConnectWise company. | Evidence that the acquisition proceeded. |
Why Axcient was strategically attractive
Axcient gave ConnectWise a major standalone capability in managed service provider (MSP) business continuity and disaster recovery. Its x360 platform is aimed at protecting data and maintaining operations through cloud backup, disaster recovery and related business-continuity services.
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For ConnectWise, the acquisition potentially added:
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- Disaster-recovery and business-continuity services.
- Data-protection intellectual property and engineering resources.
- A large existing partner base—Axcient’s September 10 partner letter said it served more than 5,000 partners.
- Another service category to connect with ConnectWise PSA, RMM, cybersecurity and Asio products.
ConnectWise presented the broader strategy as a technology stack spanning professional-services automation, remote monitoring and management, cybersecurity, data protection, generative artificial intelligence and robotic-process automation. That is a strategic rationale, not proof that every product was immediately unified.
How the deal changed ConnectWise’s position against Kaseya
The transaction addressed a prominent gap in the competition between MSP platform providers. Kaseya’s acquisition of Datto in June 2022, reported at $6.2 billion, brought a large backup and disaster-recovery business into Kaseya’s broader platform.
CRN characterized Axcient as giving ConnectWise a more complete BCDR offering with which to compete. The comparison should not be overstated:
- Axcient remained an acquired BCDR and data-protection business rather than simply a native ConnectWise feature.
- ConnectWise also acquired SkyKick, which brought cloud-management and cloud-backup capabilities, particularly relevant to Microsoft 365 and other cloud environments.
- ConnectWise said it intended to integrate Axcient and SkyKick into Asio, but the cited release did not say that all products had become one console or one commercial package.
The practical result was stronger data-protection coverage for ConnectWise’s channel strategy, not automatic product parity with Kaseya.
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Why SkyKick matters to the story
SkyKick was part of the same strategic announcement and should not be treated as a footnote. ConnectWise described SkyKick as providing cloud backup and cloud-management software for IT service providers.
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- Author: Bungay Stanier, Michael.
- Publisher: Page Two
- Pages: 244
- Publication Date: 2016-02-29
- Edition: 1
| Business | Primary contribution described by ConnectWise | Typical buyer question |
|---|---|---|
| Axcient | BCDR, cloud backup, disaster recovery and data resilience for MSP environments. | Can it protect and restore servers, endpoints and hybrid workloads to the required recovery objectives? |
| SkyKick | Cloud management, migration and backup capabilities, including Microsoft 365-related use cases. | Does it cover the organization’s cloud and SaaS administration and backup requirements? |
The available announcements do not establish that the two transactions had identical terms or valuations. They also do not establish that every Axcient and SkyKick function was immediately integrated into Asio.
What MSP partners expected
MSP leaders quoted by CRN saw possible operational benefits, including fewer management portals, tighter backup-to-endpoint-management workflows, more automation and greater engineering investment. One partner described maintaining separate Axcient backup and ConnectWise RMM portals and hoped for a future “single pane of glass.” That was a partner expectation, not a delivered capability documented in the announcement.
Axcient’s partner communication emphasized continuity of trust, support and partnership during the ownership change. Such statements are company commitments; they do not guarantee that pricing, contracts, support processes or product roadmaps will remain unchanged indefinitely.
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What customers and partners should verify
Product and integration scope
- Which Axcient functions integrate with ConnectWise PSA and RMM today?
- Is Asio integration available, scheduled or limited to particular products?
- Will APIs, alerting, ticket creation, billing or reporting workflows change?
- Will the Axcient brand and existing distributor relationships continue?
Commercial terms
- Renewal dates, minimum commitments and price-protection provisions.
- Per-device, per-workload or pooled-storage billing.
- Storage, retention and overage charges.
- Support levels, escalation contacts and account ownership.
- Data-export rights, contracting entity and payment terms.
- Differences between direct and distributor-purchased offerings.
Technical recovery performance
- Recovery-point and recovery-time objectives for each workload.
- Immutable or isolated backup options.
- Microsoft 365, SaaS, server, workstation and virtual-machine coverage.
- Bare-metal recovery and test-restore procedures.
- Security controls, multifactor authentication and geographic redundancy.
- PSA/RMM alerting and the support response during an actual recovery event.
An acquisition does not prove that a product meets a particular customer’s recovery, compliance or security requirements. MSPs should test restores and review contracts rather than relying on the ownership change as evidence of capability.
Potential benefits and risks
Potential benefits
- A broader product range for ConnectWise partners.
- Fewer vendor relationships and potentially fewer operational portals.
- Possible integration among backup, PSA, RMM, security, billing and automation workflows.
- More investment capacity for Axcient and cross-selling across partner bases.
- Stronger positioning against bundled MSP platforms.
Potential risks
- Integration may take longer than planned, leaving separate portals in place.
- Pricing, packaging or support ownership may change at renewal.
- Roadmaps for Axcient, SkyKick and ConnectWise products may not converge.
- Dependence on one vendor can reduce negotiating leverage and increase concentration risk.
- Bundled functionality may not match the best-of-breed product for a specific workload.
- Customers could face migration, contract or distributor complexity.
What remains unknown
- The final purchase price and other transaction terms.
- A precise legal closing date based on an authoritative closing notice.
- A complete timetable for integrating Axcient and SkyKick into Asio.
- Long-term product branding, pricing and packaging.
- Whether every Axcient capability will become native to Asio.
Accordingly, the reported $400 million–$500 million range should not be treated as a confirmed valuation or used to calculate an acquisition multiple. The revenue and EBITDA figures should likewise remain attributed to CRN’s unnamed sources.
How to evaluate the deal as a buyer
- Define the workload. Separate Microsoft 365 and SaaS backup from endpoint, server, virtual-machine and hybrid BCDR needs.
- Set recovery objectives. Document acceptable recovery-point and recovery-time targets for each customer environment.
- Run restore tests. Verify full and granular restores, bare-metal procedures and recovery communications.
- Compare billing models. Calculate device, workload, storage, retention and overage costs over the full contract term.
- Validate integrations. Confirm the exact PSA, RMM, Asio, API, alerting and ticketing functions included in the proposed plan.
- Review exit terms. Check renewal notice periods, export rights, data deletion, support obligations and distributor arrangements.
- Balance consolidation against concentration. A single platform may reduce administration while increasing dependence on one supplier.
Axcient promotes a free 14-day trial for at least some offerings in its materials; availability and scope should be confirmed directly at Axcient. ConnectWise does not publish a current list price in the cited materials, so buyers should request a partner or sales quote from ConnectWise.
The Bottom Line
The original report was substantially borne out: ConnectWise officially announced a definitive agreement to acquire Axcient on September 10, 2024, while also acquiring SkyKick. The reported $400 million–$500 million price, along with Axcient’s reported revenue and EBITDA, came from CRN’s sources and was not confirmed in the official release. For MSPs, the transaction’s value depends on execution—reliable recovery, useful integrations, stable partner economics and support continuity—not on the acquisition announcement alone.
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