Commvault’s Desperate Attempt to Stay Relevant: $47 Million Acquisition of Clumio
In a move that’s been met with skepticism by industry insiders, Commvault, the struggling data protection giant, has announced plans to acquire Clumio, a California-based startup, for a paltry $47 million. The deal is expected to have no material impact on Commvault’s earnings, which have been in decline for years.
The acquisition is a clear indication that Commvault is struggling to stay relevant in the rapidly changing cloud data protection landscape. By acquiring Clumio, Commvault is attempting to bolster its cloud capabilities and stay competitive with newer, more agile players in the market.
Clumio, which has raised a whopping $261 million since its founding in 2017, offers targeted data recovery functionality for AWS, including S3 Direct Access, which allows users to continue using read-only backups of data sets while actual recovery occurs in the background. The company has also provided support for Microsoft 365 since 2020.
But will this acquisition be enough to save Commvault from its impending doom? The company’s track record of struggling to innovate and adapt to changing market conditions suggests that this deal may be too little, too late.
Sanjay Mirchandani, Commvault’s CEO, claims that the acquisition will enable the company to "take what we’ve been doing with AWS to an entirely new level." But industry insiders are skeptical, wondering how a company that’s been unable to innovate its way out of a paper bag will suddenly become a leader in cloud data protection.
The acquisition is expected to close in early October 2024, at which point Clumio co-founders Poojan Kumar and Woon Jung will join Commvault, though their roles will be finalized later.
