Datto
Backup, disaster recovery, and cybersecurity vendor for MSPs, owned by Kaseya
Datto is a backup, disaster recovery, and network security vendor built specifically for managed service providers and the small and midsize businesses they support. Its products combine on-premises appliance-based backup with cloud…
Definition
Datto is a backup, disaster recovery, and network security vendor built specifically for managed service providers and the small and midsize businesses they support. Its products combine on-premises appliance-based backup with cloud replication so that a client's servers and workstations can be restored quickly after hardware failure, ransomware, or accidental deletion, and its networking division adds MSP-oriented routers and access points. Datto operated as an independent public company before being acquired by Kaseya in 2022 and folded into Kaseya's IT Complete suite.
Overview
Datto was founded to address a specific gap in the backup market: generic backup software often assumed an IT staff was available to manage recovery, while small and midsize businesses served by MSPs needed backup that could be restored fast, unattended, and ideally without the MSP driving to a client site during an outage. Datto's original hybrid appliance model combined a local backup device with continuous cloud replication so a failed server could be spun up as a virtual machine directly on the local appliance within minutes, rather than requiring a lengthy restore-from-cloud process first. Mechanically, Datto's Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR) products take frequent, incremental snapshots of protected servers, store them locally on a Datto appliance and simultaneously replicate them to Datto's cloud, and can boot a snapshot as a running virtual machine either on the appliance itself or in the cloud if the appliance or entire site is unavailable. This local-instant-recovery-plus-cloud-failover design is the mechanical differentiator that built Datto's reputation, particularly as ransomware recovery became a primary use case: an MSP can roll a client's server back to a clean snapshot from before an infection rather than negotiating with attackers. Among backup and disaster recovery vendors, Datto occupies a position adjacent to Veeam and Acronis but historically distinguished itself by selling exclusively through the MSP channel rather than direct to enterprises, and by pairing appliance hardware with its cloud rather than offering pure software. Since Kaseya's acquisition, Datto's backup line has become one module within Kaseya's broader IT Complete suite, sitting alongside VSA for RMM and IT Glue for documentation. In practice, an MSP configures backup schedules per client server, periodically tests that snapshots boot correctly, and relies on the appliance's local virtualization capability to bring a client back online within minutes of a hardware failure, with full cloud failover as the fallback if the physical site itself is compromised. Datto's networking products are used similarly, providing MSPs with remotely manageable routers and Wi-Fi access points branded for a unified support experience. A trade-off of the appliance-based model is the recurring hardware and subscription cost compared to pure cloud-only backup, and Datto's post-acquisition integration into Kaseya has led some longtime customers to weigh alternatives amid pricing and support changes that followed the merger. Organizations wanting backup independent of an RMM vendor relationship sometimes choose Veeam or a cloud-native backup provider instead, particularly if they already run a different RMM platform and see little benefit from Datto's tighter coupling to Kaseya's own IT Complete ecosystem.
Key Features
- Hybrid appliance-plus-cloud backup with local instant virtualization on failure
- Ransomware recovery through rollback to clean pre-infection snapshots
- Sold exclusively through the MSP channel rather than direct to enterprises
- Continuous incremental snapshotting of protected servers and workstations
- Cloud failover when the local appliance or site itself is unavailable
- Networking hardware line offering MSP-managed routers and access points
- Now integrated as a module within Kaseya's IT Complete suite
- Automated backup verification through periodic snapshot boot testing