Veeam Latest Acquisition

October 8, 2024in Data

Veeam continues its acquisition strategy with the purchase of Alcion, bolstering its capabilities in AI and as-a-service offerings. This acquisition follows Veeam’s investment in Microsoft 365 backup-as-a-service provider Alcion last year, and brings in a team of AI and security specialists.

Analysts and Veeam executives see this move as a key step in expanding Veeam’s as-a-service offerings. Earlier this year, the company launched Veeam Data Cloud, a backup-as-a-service solution for Microsoft 365 and Azure workloads.

“After years of resisting, Veeam has fully embraced the as-a-service model,” said Christophe Bertrand, an analyst at TheCube Research.

Veeam Latest Acquisition

The acquisition, which closed in mid-September, marks the second time Veeam has purchased a company founded by Niraj Tolia and Vaibhav Kamra. In 2020, Veeam acquired Kasten, their Kubernetes backup provider. A year ago, Veeam led a million funding round for Alcion, which has since developed AI-driven data protection solutions.

Veeam has been active in acquisitions, joining a broader trend in the data protection market. Recently, Commvault acquired Clumio, Cohesity merged with Veritas, and Veeam itself bought Cirrus from CT4, which later became part of the Veeam Data Cloud. Earlier this year, Veeam also acquired Coveware, an incident response vendor.

“Veeam hasn’t traditionally been an acquisition-heavy company, but that has changed in recent years,” said Rick Vanover, Veeam’s VP of product strategy. “I expect this trend to continue.”

Alcion’s Role at Veeam

This acquisition strengthens Veeam’s expertise in the fast-growing as-a-service market. Alcion’s team of fewer than 50 employees, including founders Niraj Tolia and Vaibhav Kamra, joins Veeam, with Tolia stepping in as Veeam’s new CTO. Tolia will lead product strategy and engineering for Veeam Data Cloud, succeeding Danny Allan, who recently became CTO at cybersecurity company Snyk.

Alcion, which has hundreds of customers, will offer those customers the opportunity to transition to Veeam Data Cloud. However, Veeam has not finalized the future of Alcion’s product or established a timeline for its integration.

“This acquisition brings incredible talent and thought leadership to Veeam, especially from Niraj and the Alcion team,” said Brandt Urban, Veeam’s senior VP of worldwide cloud sales. “Their expertise will help us rapidly enhance Veeam Data Cloud, adding more capabilities and expanding workload coverage.”

Analysts, like Bertrand, expect Veeam to broaden its data protection offerings for additional SaaS platforms beyond Microsoft 365, looking toward collaboration and DevOps tools as potential areas for growth.

AI and Security at the Forefront

Alcion’s AI-powered features allow administrators to optimize backups, detect malware, and respond proactively to threats. According to Krista Case, an analyst at The Futurum Group, Alcion uses AI strategically to adapt backup schedules based on data modification patterns, trigger backups when potential threats are identified, and recommend the best recovery points.

“When practitioners talk about cyber resilience, they’re focused on minimizing data loss and downtime—Alcion’s AI capabilities directly address these concerns,” said Case.

Veeam has also been integrating AI into its existing products, offering inline malware detection and an Intelligent Diagnostics service. A forthcoming Copilot feature for Microsoft 365 backups will further enhance AI-driven data protection.

Veeam Latest Acquisition

“AI is a real asset when applied thoughtfully—it’s not just hype,” said Bertrand, adding that users are more interested in AI’s ability to drive outcomes, like detecting threats that could otherwise go unnoticed.

Veeam executives echoed the importance of delivering clear, tangible AI benefits. “We keep user outcomes front and center because, otherwise, AI becomes an expensive experiment,” Vanover said.