Carbonite Acquires MailStore: What it Means for Channel Partners

Carbonite (CARB)’s acquisition of MailStore might leave some channel partners wondering what it means for them in the in the grand scheme of things, so the Boston-based hybrid backup and recovery solutions provider’s channel chief gave Talkin’ Cloud the scoop.

“There is a huge opportunity for channel partners with this acquisition,” said David Maffei, vice president of Global Channels at Carbonite. “Both Carbonite and MailStore channel partners will be able to offer more robust and comprehensive data protection solutions to their clients without having to deal with additional vendors.

Carbonite yesterday announced its plans to acquire MailStore for approximately $19.8 million. The company said it expects to complete the MailStore acquisition by the end of the month

Maffei said he expects Carbonite’s channel partners to embrace new solutions his company will be offering because both Carbonite and MailStore design solutions for small and medium-sized busnesses (SMBs).

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MailStore provides email archiving solutions to SMBs, and public and educational institutions. As of now, more than 20,000 companies are leveraging MailStore Server.

“We expect our partner program to continue to grow and mature in 2015, both because of the MailStore acquisition and because of our programs and ongoing efforts to bring more value to our channel partners,” Maffei said. “Specifically for this deal — adding this kind of capability to our suite of products opens up another segment of prospective partners who are looking to provide enterprise-class mail backup and recovery solutions as a part of their overall business continuity strategy for their customers.”

What will change for channel partners? Maffei said Carbonite’s partners will have a broader range of solutions to choose from.

“MailStore has their own partner program, which includes certification tracks, marketing materials and educational training, all of which are very similar to the current Carbonite partner program offerings,” he said. “The exciting thing about teaming up with a company that is as partner centric as MailStore is that we can combine our expertise and mindshare for an overall better partner experience for our new joint partners.”

Maffei said Carbonite will be focused on growing the channel in 2015, both domestically and internationally.

“I have been talking a lot about completing our shift from being a B2C/direct company to becoming a true leader as a B2B/indirect company,” he said. “In 2015, we complete the vision and the transition which will provide significant opportunity for our partners to grow their businesses.”

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