For 10 years, cloud technology has become a trend that companies can’t ignore. But in 2020, it became a necessity, McKinsey & Company Atlanta partner Leandro Santos said.
So when McKinsey saw the capabilities of Atlanta cloud firm Candid Partners while working for the same clients, the global management consulting firm saw an opportunity.
Candid, which co-founder John Peak said is one of the largest and fastest-growing independent cloud specialty firms, had a similar company culture and philosophy on cloud technology as McKinsey. Plus, the firm’s technical skills filled in the areas McKinsey lacked, Santos said.
McKinsey acquired Candid to build out its ability to help clients move to cloud-based infrastructure. All of Candid’s about 130 employees, and co-founders Peak and Merrick Olives, moved to McKinsey with the acquisition, bringing its Atlanta office up to about 700 employees.
Santos said the companies are now working on a global branding strategy for the combined companies. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Candid is one of about a dozen acquisitions by McKinsey in the past decade, Santos said.
“All of our acquisitions are for very specific capabilities that are particularly relevant for our clients,” Santos said.
Santos, who is a senior leader of McKinsey Technology, said about 50% of McKinsey’s consulting work is in technology.
"Cloud is a topic that has emerged as a priority for all of our CEOs and on the board levels,” Santos said.
Candid, founded in 2013, was relatively small compared to the global giant. Peak said the firm worked with about a dozen clients with a focus on top Fortune 500 companies.
"We were kind of the smaller guys that went after the biggest, hairiest, most complex problems with the largest and most visible brands in the world,” Peak said. “And we were able to solve them.”
In 2020, Candid saw 40% growth and an increase in workforce efficiency despite moving to a virtual workplace because of the pandemic, Peak said.
But some of McKinsey and Candid’s clients haven’t had such an easy transition into virtual work because of the lack of cloud technology. Without the cloud, it’s much more difficult for companies to scale or adjust to pandemic-altered world.
"I view cloud as a once-in-a-generation type of technology transformation,” Peak said. “Two years ago, companies weren’t so sure, but they realized that in 2020 when we saw Covid hit.”
Santos said he was not surprised to see an acquisition based on technology expertise come out of Atlanta. With the city’s growing startup scene and diversity in industry, Santos said McKinsey is “bullish” about the talented workforce here.
