Comcast Acquisition 'Golden Ticket' for Masergy Channel Partners
"The high-level win here for Comcast is the global enterprise game that Masergy knows how to play extremely well," PlanetOne's Ted Schuman said.
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Irwin Lazar serves as president and principal analyst for research firm Metrigy. He said both companies benefit from the transaction.
“For Comcast, it allows them to expand their enterprise networking offerings via Masergy’s global SD-WAN and managed network security offerings. It also allows them to expand support for remote workers via Masergy’s recently launched Performance Edge. For Masergy, this obviously expands their last-mile footprint,” Lazar said.
TBI’s Onystok said the acquisition represents a “tremendous opportunity” for TBI and its agents.
“TBI has one of the most tenured relationships with each provider respectively as well as strong alignments with leadership and key resources that position TBI and our partner community for success at the cusp of this change,” Onystok told Channel Futures. “Combining our market position with the robust resources we have for engineering, training, education and assisting partners with ways to take this to market provides nothing but enormous opportunity.”
PlanetOne CEO Ted Schuman praised the deal for how it will benefit Masergy partners and customers.
“From Masergy’s side we see Comcast’s reliable, anywhere access as a golden ticket for Masergy’s current partners and prospects,” Schuman said.
He expressed optimism for the channel program consolidation process.
“Both brands have a strong commitment to channel at the highest levels so time will tell how the program builds in its next rev. But the gross of this potential deal is a positive gain for the channel partners and the net should be in favor of all the stakeholders, PlanetOne and our partners included,” he said.
PlanetOne partners with both companies and has scored multiple platinum awards from Masergy.
“As a preferred partner to both providers, we offer our congrats and are ready to go even bigger when the ink is signed,” Schuman said.
Intelisys president John DeLozier praised the committment of both vendors to the channel.
“This is an amazing partnership because it brings together two channel-focused companies committed to partner growth,” DeLozier told Channel Futures. “Both Comcast and Masergy have continued to invest in the channel with their people and their partner-focused programs. Together, they will enable partners to expand their offering – be it adding new technologies or entering new markets. We see great opportunity for partners and for the channel.”
Analyst Zeus Kerravala of ZK Research said the acquisition aids Comcast in its quest to tackle the midmarket and enterprise.
“Comcast has had eyes on moving upmarket for quite some time – and it’s fair to say, with very little success,” he said.
PlanetOne CEO Ted Schuman said Masergy can help solve that problem.
“The high-level win here for Comcast is the global enterprise game that Masergy knows how to play extremely well. They’ve got the roster to build from.”
From which list of companies was Comcast picking? Kerravala said the list ran short.
“There aren’t many managed service providers that own their own network,” he said.
He pointed to Cato Networks and Aryaka Networks as companies that fit the bill. Indeed, Kerravala said purchasers will likely acquire Cato and Aryaka.
“But I think Masergy’s actually got a better internet network and certainly they’ve been around a lot longer with more established customers,” Kerravala said.
He also said Cato and Aryaka hold more of a share down-market.
Kerravala also suggested that Versa Networks, which partners with Comcast for SD-WAN, could be an acquisition target.
Could Comcast’s move pressure other MSOs to make a similar purchase? Kerravala said yes.
“Any of the cablecos that have their eyes on up-market would try and replicate this. Cable companies have a reputation for notoriously bad service. Comcast is one of that’s tried to fix that for years. But there’s a lot more to serving larger enterprises than just having product. You need a channel program. Masergy has that. You need all the different partners in place and things like that. I think you could try and build that yourself, but that would take a prolonged period of time,” he said.
Kerravala said SD-WAN also helps vendors capture the red-hot UCaaS opportunity. Masergy earlier this year announced a partnership with Cisco WebEx. Comcast recently bought Irish cloud voice provider Blueface. But Kerravala said Blueface lacks the rich video components that larger rivals possess.
“If you look at what Comcast has down-market, it’s not really all that robust an offering,” he said.
Kerravala said SD-WAN has turned into a major strategic tool for MSOs that want to lure away enterprise customers from the AT&T’s of the world. That’s due to that fact that SD-WAN customers can use broadband as their last mile. Similarly, wireless providers like Vodafone can use SD-WAN to make their mobile offering the last mile.
“I think those cablecos do have an eye on this because with SD-WAN cable does become your last mile. You can totally disagregate the major telcos there,” Kerravala said.
Avant also partners with both providers. Avant President Drew Lydecker said the deal helps Comcast improve its SD-WAN and cloud-based security offerings.
“The deal is timed well with the rise of software-defined and cloud services and will position Comcast to enter new markets and build out their customer base further. Avant’s trusted advisors have worked with Comcast and Masergy over the last few years and this merger offers a unique value proposition to Comcast that will serve end customers well,” Lydecker told Channel Futures. “Looking to the future, security and cloud services will need to be baked into all facets of technology, so mergers like this will only become more common as businesses within the channel work to provide all-in-one services to their end customers.”
Avant also partners with both providers. Avant President Drew Lydecker said the deal helps Comcast improve its SD-WAN and cloud-based security offerings.
“The deal is timed well with the rise of software-defined and cloud services and will position Comcast to enter new markets and build out their customer base further. Avant’s trusted advisors have worked with Comcast and Masergy over the last few years and this merger offers a unique value proposition to Comcast that will serve end customers well,” Lydecker told Channel Futures. “Looking to the future, security and cloud services will need to be baked into all facets of technology, so mergers like this will only become more common as businesses within the channel work to provide all-in-one services to their end customers.”
Partners and analysts are praising Comcast Business‘ acquisition of Masergy.
Philadelphia-based Comcast is buying Plano, Texas-based Masergy from Berkshire Partners for an undisclosed amount. The deal strengthens Comcast’s enterprise customer base and deepens its SD-WAN and remote work portfolio. On the other hand, it allows Berkshire to cash out on a high note after buying Masergy for reportedly around $900 million in 2016.
The channel community has almost uniformly applauded the deal. That starts with Masergy channel chief Jim Glackin, who expressed his delight on LinkedIn.
Source: LinkedIn
Mike Onystok, TBI‘s senior vice president of operations, said Masergy and Comcast complement each other very well.
TBI’s Mike Onystok
“The resources, reach and brand recognition Comcast has are undoubtedly in the top echelon of providers in the channel. The ability to combine this position with Masergy’s focus on providing next-gen solutions such as security, white glove service and deployment, and their catering to the global or mid-enterprise client provides a strong foundation to fill gaps for both in existing offering and focus,” Onystok.
Onystok and many of his peers in the industry agree that both companies levy a deep channel footprint.
“These are both household names in the channel community and the two together stand to be one of the strongest players in this space in the very near term,” he said.
Partner and channel consultant Peter Radizeski noted how both companies benefited.
Comcast Business will gain 1,400 customers in almost 100 countries with the Masergy deal. Masergy has been owned by Berkshire Partners since 2016. 5 yrs is when PE firms look to cash out.
— Peter Radizeski (@radinfo) August 25, 2021
ZK Research’s Zeus Kerravala
Analyst Zeus Kerravala agreed that private equity firms have typically sold by the end of five years. And considering that Masergy flourished during the pandemic with its remote work solutions, Berkshire was absolutely selling high.
“We are seeing more and more companies look to modernize their networks in preparation for more cloud or more work from home,” Kerravala said.
Check out our slideshow above to read reactions from partners and analysts about Comcast’s big acquisition.
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