Digital Shadows Got Acquired by ReliaQuest: What DRP Buyers Need to Know

Digital Shadows was one of the original digital risk protection platforms. Independent team. Independent roadmap. Dedicated customer success. A clear focus on external threat intelligence.

Then ReliaQuest acquired them in July 2022. That independence is gone.

What Actually Changed

Product Integration

Digital Shadows’ DRP capabilities were absorbed into ReliaQuest’s GreyMatter platform. What was a standalone external threat intelligence product is now a module within a broader security operations suite. The focused, purpose-built DRP experience — the thing customers chose Digital Shadows for — has been subordinated to GreyMatter’s architecture.

For organizations that selected Digital Shadows specifically because it was a dedicated DRP platform, this changes the value proposition fundamentally. You’re no longer buying a DRP product. You’re buying access to DRP features within a broader platform whose priorities may not align with yours.

Pricing Structure

Post-acquisition pricing reflects the GreyMatter platform, not the standalone Digital Shadows product. Enterprise pricing for the broader platform typically exceeds what customers were paying for Digital Shadows alone. Renewal conversations for legacy Digital Shadows customers frequently include pressure to migrate to GreyMatter — and the pricing that comes with it.

Customer Experience

The dedicated Digital Shadows customer success model — focused exclusively on DRP outcomes — has been integrated into ReliaQuest’s broader support structure. Customers report longer response times, less DRP-specific expertise in support interactions, and a general shift from dedicated partnership to enterprise ticketing.

Development Trajectory

When an acquired platform becomes a module within a larger product, development resources are allocated by the acquirer’s priorities, not the acquired product’s roadmap. Features important to DRP-specific use cases compete for development resources against GreyMatter’s broader feature requirements.

The Pattern Repeats

Digital Shadows isn’t an isolated case. It’s part of a market-wide consolidation pattern.

IntSights was acquired by Rapid7 in 2021. PhishLabs was acquired by HelpSystems (now Fortra) in 2021. ZeroFox was taken private by Haveli Investments in 2024. Liferaft is being acquired by Securitas. Each follows a similar trajectory: acquisition, integration into a larger platform, product development slowdown, pricing increases, and support quality reduction.

The DRP market is being consumed by larger entities — PE firms, security conglomerates, and enterprise platform vendors — and the standalone DRP experience is disappearing.

What Buyers Should Do

If you’re a current Digital Shadows customer: Evaluate your renewal terms carefully. Understand what the migration to GreyMatter entails — in pricing, workflow changes, and feature availability. Compare against independent alternatives before committing to a multi-year renewal.

If you’re evaluating DRP platforms: Factor vendor independence into your criteria. Ask about ownership structure, acquisition history, and product roadmap independence. A platform that exists as an independent company today has stronger alignment with your interests than one operating as a module within a larger entity.

For any evaluation: Negotiate multi-year pricing protections that contractually limit post-acquisition price increases. Evaluate data portability — can you export your monitoring configuration and historical data if you need to switch? And assess the development cadence — is the vendor shipping new features, or has the product entered maintenance mode?

DigitalStakeout is independently held by 25+ US-based investors with no PE involvement. The platform is purpose-built for DRP with a dedicated roadmap driven by customer needs.

---

See an independent alternative. Compare DigitalStakeout vs Digital Shadows or view pricing.