Autotask To Be Acquired By Vista Equity Partners

Vista Equity Partners is set to acquire Autotask for an undisclosed amount, the hosted IT management platform provider revealed as it kicked off its Autotask Community Live event in Hollywood, Fla., Monday.

Vista Equity Partners is a private equity firm with approximately $11.5 billion invested in software, data and technology services companies.

Even though the company is being acquired, Autotask CEO Mark Cattini said in his keynote that the East Greenbush, N.Y.-based company will remain private and independent. The acquisition will, however, provide more investment, resources and expertise for the platform and allow the company to continue to coordinate and deliver "Smart IT" to its more than 5,500 customers.

[Related: Autotask CEO: With Consumerization Over, SMBs Stand To Be Fastest IT Growth Area ]

"I couldn't have thought of a better scenario to take Autotask to the next level," Cattini said.

More specifically, Cattini said to keep an eye out for investments in an accelerated product road map, innovation and improved customer service "across the board."

"Expect to see a bigger, better Autotask," Cattini said.

Following up on the announcement of the acquisition, Autotask unveiled the first step in those investments, showing off a completely overhauled user interface for its IT management platform.

Partners said they weren't surprised by the news, although they all said that they needed some time to evaluate the direction that Autotask will take.

"I'm not surprised," said Mike Orta, a project manager at Port Richey, Fla.-based BluTech Network Solutions, who heard the announcement first-hand. "Nothing surprises me anymore."

Glenn Bach, director of operations at Los Angeles-based Be Structured, said that, overall, the move is a "positive," but he wished Cattini had provided a little more insight into why the acquisition was needed, be it lack of funding or another reason.

As for investments they would like to see with a new influx of capital from Vista Equity Partners, Orta said that he would like to see more investments back into training and the technology itself, to make it simpler to use and more easy to understand. Bach said that he would like to see the company's support bolstered.

The acquisition is expected to close this summer.

PUBLISHED JUNE 9, 2014