You’ve previously never taken external funding before so why did it feel like the right moment?
Well, we’ve always been focused on innovation over commercial growth – and certainly seen the advantages of this! We have 40 patented inventions and experienced both successes and failures. Up until now we didn’t need to have a clear business plan; we were motivated by – and found success in – pursuing our overall objective of enhancing the ways IT supports employees.
But, with Tachyon, we begun to realise that we’ve created something that’s bigger than we imagined when it comes to enabling IT to work in a much more responsive way to employees and the business. And with the pandemic accelerating the move toward remote and hybrid work, the scope and magnitude of the change we can help with has become clear.
That’s why we felt it was the right time to find a partner to help us scale our ambitions; we want to change how IT works in every large organization. We want people to have the best IT experience possible, help to get rid of siloes, and unify IT around the common goal of delivering great digital experiences. And, when it came to it, The Carlyle Group was a pretty obvious choice for us in that respect.
Tell us, in your own words, what your strategic goals are for 1E in the future?
The primary strategic goal for 1E is to help IT get more done every single day. If we can ensure IT professionals are well-equipped and working efficiently, and every employee is wasting 15 minutes less every day on digital disruptions, then we’re on the right track.
The big challenge we’re looking to resolve now is optimized IT support for the hybrid workplace. Employees are demanding more flexible work options and, chances are, they’ll get it. While businesses see this as a strategic advantage to boost productivity levels, for IT it’s a complex challenge. All work, collaboration, and communication happens through the laptop. The entire organization is represented through this one machine, and the pressure is on CIOs and their teams to ensure optimal digital experiences across the organization. But there’s huge room for improvement here, and an opportunity for us to really help simplify endpoint management.
We’re already enhancing our product in line with these strategic goals, disrupting the Digital Experience Monitoring space with Unified eXperience Management (UXM), to go beyond monitoring alone to proactively resolve issues in real time. We’ll be continuing this trajectory in the months and years to come.
How do you feel The Carlyle Group will help enable our roadmap?
The process that we’ve been through so far with the Carlyle team has involved looking at the market in a huge amount of detail to evaluate our potential growth opportunities. From a 1E perspective, we have zero doubt that this investment is absolutely right. The diligence they bring is only going to make us better: it will ensure a step up in scope, transform how we operate, make us more diligent, and influence how we enact our strategic goals.
They bring with them a real desire for data-driven decisions, involving the best experts in the space. You will hear in my conversation with Fernando that Carlyle understands our mission and how it aligns with the phenomenal market demand that has been driven by the shift to hybrid working and accelerated by the pandemic.
Carlyle has one of the most capable teams I’ve ever come across, and their thesis of a constant drive toward success backs our roadmap completely. This is a pivotal moment for both the business and for me, personally.
What does this acquisition mean for our customers?
To date, we’ve been successful as a company because we’ve always kept our customers front of mind, which is why we’ve achieved a 99% satisfaction rating from our customers. Going forward, to put it simply, our customers will see more product features released and at a much quicker cadence. Everything we plan to do is designed to meet the needs of our customers as they shift to a hybrid work model.
While there are obvious strategic moves we’ll be making, such as the acceleration of our SaaS journey, we’ll be in constant communication with our customers to ensure our roadmap evolves in line with their priorities.
Can you elaborate on what it means for our partners?
Our pedigree has always been in enhancing existing investments in the IT infrastructure. We’ve never ascribed to a rip-and-replace approach to IT optimization, nor do we like to operate as a point solution. This won’t ever change, so our partners can expect a reinforcement of our relationship and greater investment in our joint efforts.
Our partners share our vision to change the way businesses support the hybrid workplace. We’re already greatly aligned so the future is looking bright. There’s really no better time to be a 1E partner.
Missed the announcement? You can find out more and watch the conversation between Sumir and Carlyle MD, Fernando Fernando Chueca here.
