Flexera Scoops Up RISC Networks to Extend Platform

Flexera, the software asset management provider, has acquired RISC Networks, whose SaaS-based analytics platform helps companies speed their migration to the cloud.

RISC’s platform extends Flexera’s ability to deliver IT insights and spend optimization. Terms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed. This follows Flexera’s acquisition of RightScale and is the fourth company Flexera has bought since the beginning of 2018.

Ryan Kubacki, Flexera’s chief revenue officer, tells Channel Partners this acquisition will create “significant” new opportunities for existing Flexera partners by providing solutions that help them drive successful cloud migration projects.

Flexera’s Ryan Kubacki

“According to Wikibon, 33% of all IT spending will be moving to the cloud over the next five to 10 years,” he said. “Those projects are largely being driven by SIs and MSPs. Using solutions from RISC, partners will be able to help organizations gain visibility into all of their business services, assess which applications can be moved to the cloud, and help them right-size their cloud environments to optimize the costs.”

This acquisition will allow Flexera customers to chart the most efficient and effective path to the cloud, avoiding costly missteps that can set back digital transformation, according to the company. Adding RISC to the Flexera portfolio also will help build stronger relationships with cloud providers such as AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.

RISC’s primary products – Foundation and CloudScape – help companies like CapGemini, IBM, Turner Broadcasting, Viacom and Eastman Chemical more effectively move from on-premises to the cloud by: fully discovering all of a company’s IT infrastructure; automatically organizing the information into the relevant business services that are essential to the enterprise; and evaluating, prioritizing and pricing the applications to be moved to the cloud.

“RISC Networks has patented technology to take the complexity of dependency mapping and automatically create a view of business services,” Kubacki said. “This approach will greatly accelerate the process of moving applications to the cloud, and will help partners deliver successful and profitable cloud-migration projects and overall cloud-managed service offerings.”

The acquisition also will provide new opportunities for existing RISC partners to expand their cloud MSP practices by leveraging Flexera’s cloud management tools, he said.

“As Flexera continues to expand and integrate our solution portfolio, our partners can bring a broad array of services to their customers,” Kubacki said.

In addition to RightScale, other acquisitions include MetaSaaS and BrainWare Group.

“We’re always seeking to strengthen our capabilities in cloud migration — an area that’s becoming more of a focus for IT executives and analysts,” said Jim Ryan, Flexera’s president and CEO. “With our acquisition of RISC Networks, we can help our customers even earlier in their journey to the cloud. We can now help them assess, prioritize and price which on-premise workloads they should migrate to the cloud.”