Q&A: StorageCraft's New CEO Matt Medeiros Discusses Plans After $187M Equity Investment

With New CEO And Huge Equity Investment, StorageCraft Looks To New Future

The data protection software industry is extremely competitive, with pure-play software vendors, cloud-based vendors, hardware vendors and any combination of the three jostling to be the backup and recovery supplier of choice.

One of those vendors, StorageCraft Technology, has an opportunity to gain revenue and share, thanks to a $187 million investment from TA Associates, a private equity firm which is now the company's largest shareholder. Along with the investment, the company also got a new chairman and CEO in Matt Medeiros, who is best-known as the president and CEO of SonicWall before that company was acquired by Dell.

CRN spoke to Medeiros about the investment and how it will change StorageCraft and its channel.

Why did TA invest $187 million in StorageCraft?

I've been with TA for the last six months, working with [Managing Director] Jon Meeks, who heads our technology practice, on identifying technology opportunities.

We looked at the legacy of StorageCraft. The company has been around a long time. It'd done a good job of running profitably, with double-digit [revenue] growth for the last five years. But getting a company from $100 million in revenue to $500 million needs a great deal of expertise. TA sees opportunity in StorageCraft's technology portfolio and intellectual property.

Does TA have any plans for a StorageCraft IPO?

We're going to be worrying about the future after we get our feet on the ground. I'm not worried about how we exit this chapter. I'm worried about the opportunities we have now.

What areas in StorageCraft will see more focus as a result of the investment?

StorageCraft's core is backup and recovery. Our differentiator is in the recovery portion. You can back up data all day long, but can you recover it? Can you get the data back in the format that you backed it up in?

StorageCraft realized that not all data has the same value to different users. We want to make sure we understand the value of the data. Also, we want to make sure we offer data protection that is targeted at different market segments.

What is StorageCraft's cloud focus?

Our fastest-growing product segment is the cloud part. Our offering is finely tuned for MSP and VAR partners. We see an opportunity to grow this business globally, and add new integration technologies.

What kind of equity stake does TA have in StorageCraft?

TA has the single largest equity stake of any investors in StorageCraft. [Three] of the key founders of the company have equity stakes. I have invested in StorageCraft as well. But we're not disclosing numbers.

TA Associates termed the financial arrangement as an "investment." But $187 million seems more like an acquisition. Why not call it an acquisition?

TA has acquired the company. It's the single largest shareholder.

Has TA Associates invested in any other storage companies? Do you see any opportunities to combine other parts of its portfolio with StorageCraft to build a larger company?

There are no other storage companies in the portfolio now. But TA Associates has been investing in tech for some time. They see StorageCraft running the business as StorageCraft.

Other than you taking over as CEO, can we expect other executive changes at StorageCraft as a result of the acquisition?

There will be some changes. We have a lot of plans for growth and investment. Jeff Shreeve (pictured), the previous CEO, is retiring. [Chief Operating Officer Russ Shreeve is retiring.]

The good news is stability. We have the other co-founders with us. We've got the team in place.