Yes, we probably say this every year, but this year we mean it…
Acquisitions have become bigger and bigger news in the web and cloud-hosted service environment this year. It seems like every day we see news of a provider we use, or a client uses, being acquired by another technology organization. This has happened from the smaller WordPress plugin providers to larger ones, to large email providers such as MailChimp and Mailgun, to survey sites such as Survey Monkey, and so on. It is happening in the hosting arena. We’ve seen companies that bought companies then get bought themselves. It is a turbulent time in the industry for keeping track – and following the future – of online service providers.
With acquisition comes change. There’s not much point in buying a business to maintain the status quo; the buyer sees opportunity and will work towards it. That is the source of the change. How does that change impact you, how can you benefit from that change; and what are your options if you don’t like it?
We HAVE to keep track for terms of our business. We relay the important information to our clients that need to know. We can provide historical context of how a provider is doing after acquisition – is it improving, is it diminishing, is it increasing price but not in value.
It can be hard to keep track. We get emails from vendors, we track news on Twitter, we follow Post Status Acquisitions. There’s no one place for details.
This is a time that if you’re invested in your web site(s), you have to keep your head up, see what is happening, and be attentive to possible change options. The industry is churning.