Analyst: Krista Case
Publication Date: September 18, 2024
Document #: MCNKC202409
What Is Covered in This Article:
- Veeam Acquires Alcion, Appoints Niraj Tolia as CTO
- The Alcion team will add strategic expertise, notably in AI
- Tolia brings prior experience at Veeam via the integration of Kasten
The News: Veeam acquires Alcion, a provider of an artificial intelligence (AI)-supported backup as a service (BUaaS) offering for Microsoft 365, and appoints Niraj Tolia, co-founder of both Alcion and Kasten, as Chief Technology Officer.
Veeam Acquires Alcion, Appoints Niraj Tolia as CTO
Analyst Take: It would appear that Veeam’s acquisition of Alcion is for talent rather than the tuck-in of a product. Specifically, it is a move on the part of Veeam to bolster its push into data protection and cyber-resilience capabilities enhanced by AI and delivered as-a-service.
Notably, Alcion co-founder Niraj Tolia, who also co-founded Kasten, the Kubernetes data protection company acquired by Veeam in 2020, will drive Veeam’s Veeam Data Cloud (VDC) product strategy and engineering efforts. Tolia has expertise not only in protecting future-forward workloads including container-based environments and software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications such as Microsoft 365 but also in bringing next-generation AI-supported capabilities and cloud-hosted delivery models to the data protection sphere. At the same time, Tolia obtained experience in Veeam’s culture, strategic initiatives, and customer base through his experience supporting the integration of Kasten as a key business unit within Veeam. Along this vein, it is relevant to note that Veeam led Alcion’s $21 million Series A funding in September 2023.
The Futurum Group has written frequently about Veeam’s ongoing evolution from a VM backup provider, to a provider of comprehensive cyber-resiliency capabilities for the range of traditional and modern workloads that are delivered on-premises or cloud-hosted via Veeam or Veeam’s partners. Tolia, his Alcion and Kasten co-founder Vaibhav Kamra, and the broader Alcion team will provide supporting and dedicated expertise – in this case, most notably around AI – that will bolster this strategy. Additionally, existing Alcion customers will be migrated to the VDC, the fastest growing product in Veeam’s history.
What to Watch
- The strategic nature of the expertise that the Alcion team will bring to Veeam should not be understated. As a component of its Cybersecurity Decision Maker IQ research, The Futurum Group found that new AI-driven data protection platforms, and the integration of new technologies such as generative AI, top the spending priorities for cybersecurity-related AI investments over the next 12 months. This feedback reflects the need for IT Operations teams that are strapped for time to keep up with the rapid pace at which threat actors are innovating their approaches, and the pace at which the potential attack surface is evolving.
- From this vein, Veeam does face strong competition, as data protection peers have been investing in a range of AI capabilities to streamline the operational experience, and to deliver improved outcomes for cyber-resiliency, such as improved threat detection and response. The Futurum Group anticipates that Alcion will both accelerate and sharpen Veeam’s innovation in the area.
Read the full press release from Veeam Software here.
Disclosure: The Futurum Group is a research and advisory firm that engages or has engaged in research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.
Analysis and opinions expressed herein are specific to the analyst individually and data and other information that might have been provided for validation, not those of The Futurum Group as a whole.
Other insights from The Futurum Group:
Alcion AI-Supported Backup as a Service Achieves Series A Funding
VeeamON 2024: Backups, Cyber-Resiliency, & Incident Response
Veeam Analyst Summit 2023 Highlights
Author Information
With a focus on data security, protection, and management, Krista has a particular focus on how these strategies play out in multi-cloud environments. She brings approximately 15 years of experience providing research and advisory services and creating thought leadership content. Her vantage point spans technology and vendor portfolio developments; customer buying behavior trends; and vendor ecosystems, go-to-market positioning, and business models. Her work has appeared in major publications including eWeek, TechTarget and The Register.
Prior to joining The Futurum Group, Krista led the data protection practice for Evaluator Group and the data center practice of analyst firm Technology Business Research. She also created articles, product analyses, and blogs on all things storage and data protection and management for analyst firm Storage Switzerland and led market intelligence initiatives for media company TechTarget.
