GoDaddy today announced the acquisition of the popular website security platform, Sucuri.
“This acquisition will bring the best of both worlds,” the announcement said. “It will allow us to expand our product line to all GoDaddy customers, while also remaining true to our foundation supporting all our current and future customers.”
The news was met with a mix of speculation and excitement by the community. While some are excited for the possibilities the partnership will bring, others feel like they are losing a favorite service.
What Does This Mean For Sucuri?
Sucuri is a thought leader in the field of security and is always working to keep users safe. The company’s announcement said customers will still have full access to all of the plugin’s features. It goes on to say there will be improvements to the processes by which the company does things. It is unclear what these improvements will be but the service as it is will remain the same.
“As product people, we believe that we have to be continuously improving and evolving. We see this as version 2.0 for Sucuri, one where we can make bigger and more impactful changes to the website security domain,” the announcement said.
Co-founder and CEO of Sucuri Tony Perez is looking forward to the partnership.
“This is awesome not just for Sucuri, but for GoDaddy and the greater website security ecosystem as well. This acquisition shows GoDaddy’s commitment to technology, products and building amazing experiences for customers,” Perez said. “This partnership will provide Sucuri an opportunity to scale our products into a realm that we only ever imagined, while providing us the resources we need to continue to be the defacto security standard for website owners across all domains. In short, this is a very exciting time for us and all our customers.”
Of course, Sucuri will now have access to GoDaddy’s entire customer base.
What Does This Mean For GoDaddy?
GoDaddy now has the capability to offer full-featured security to every customer. GoDaddy not only has access to Sucuri’s vast expertise but the company’s customer service capabilities. If there are any security concerns in the WordPress environment, all questions can go straight to the security experts themselves.
In their announcement, GoDaddy explained the importance of all WordPress users understanding security.
“The vast majority of our customers aren’t website security experts, nor should they need to be to secure their websites,” said Kevin Doerr, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Security, GoDaddy. “Combining Sucuri with GoDaddy’s scale will advance digital security for our customers by making it effortless, timely and affordable. We’ll continue to invest in Sucuri and jointly develop products that propel security solutions forward.”
Community Impact
The WordPress space affords many thousands of people to create and run businesses themselves. Whether you’re developing a plugin, hosting sites, or making beautiful themes, the CMS nurtures entrepreneurs. Often, these thriving companies make acquisitions with bigger players in order to benefit from more resources and a bigger customer base.
Acquisitions are a huge part of all areas of business and can lead to more full-functioning services. One of the most famous partnerships being WooCommerce and Automattic. While many people benefit from these partnerships, some in the community have a hard time seeing their favorite company or business join another. This was especially true when GoDaddy acquired ManageWP. Many customers were excited to utilize the dual functionality, but the acquisition was met with uncertainty by others.
In the last couple years, GoDaddy has made inroads within WordPress acquiring Media Temple and ManageWP. Both were met with controversy due to the company’s storied relationship with the WordPress community. Some users are suspicious of the company, either because of its less than savory add campaigns, or the fact that they see it as a WordPress outsider. Because of this it is no surprise not everyone was thrilled with the news of the Sucuri partnership.
Ew, gross, Sucuri just got bought by GoDaddy. I don’t hate many companies, but GoDadddy is one of them. https://t.co/zjHdbgRnaU
— Jennette Fulda (@jennettefulda) March 22, 2017
Well, that ends my use of @sucuri: I suspect once it does a scan, I’ll get flooded with lots of GoDaddy advertising crap. Hello #wordfence ! https://t.co/kng8vafaDa
— Futurist Jim Carroll (@jimcarroll) March 22, 2017
Many took to the Advanced WordPress Group on Facebook to express concerns, saying they’ve experienced problems with the host in the past or feel like they need to look for Sucuri alternatives.
However, for every person unhappy with the news, there were many messages of congratulations for both sides of the agreement. People took to the AWP group to combat the negative comments and express excitement for the future. Many made it clear that they trust Sucuri and its founders and will continue to stick by the product.
So far, @managewp is still doing alright after being acquired by GoDaddy, so that gives me hope that Sucuri will remain reputable.
— Scott Buscemi (@scottbuscemi) March 22, 2017
We want to congratulate our friends @GoDaddy and @sucurisecurity with this great news!https://t.co/LO94f76sX8
— Yoast (@yoast) March 22, 2017
Congrats @perezbox & @dremeda! https://t.co/avjy76qEgg
— Tom Sepper (@twsepper) March 22, 2017
Looking Forward
Regardless of your feelings about the acquisition, it points the reach of WordPress. The CMS powers more than 27 percent of the web and is growing every day. The space fosters progress and allows anyone with Wifi and a computer to make a living.
Another takeaway from the news is that security is and should be a priority in the space. Every user needs to be mindful of security, whether they are a beginner or expert. Sucuri will continue to be a thought leader in the field and be vigilant about the safety of all WordPress sites. It will be interesting to see if the company’s reach grows and what that will mean for security as a whole.
What are your thoughts on the acquisition? Let us know in the comments below.
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