TCI was looking for some regional leverage in North America and found what it was looking for in Savid, which is based in Chicago, Ill. According to TCI Managing Partner Sam Attias, Savid’s headquarters will become TCI’s “central hub” for its new North American security and compliance practice.

TCI is planning to launch the practice during Q1 2012, and its Savid Technologies acquisition appears to be the last piece to be put into place. According to Attias, TCI will leverage Savid’s security consulting expertise in order to build a fully integrated security offering for TCI’s North American partners to sell to their end-users.

Savid’s Security Expertise

Savid’s security expertise starts at the top with Savid Technologies CEO Michael A. Davis, who TCI refers to in its press release as an “industry renowned cloud security expert.” Davis will continue in his current role, as Savid will keep its own brand name and its leadership in place under the terms of acquisition.

More to Come in 2012

The Savid Technologies acquisition is the first major move of the year for TCI. If 2011 was any indication, then we should be hearing a lot more from the company this year. Adding OS33 President Jacob Kazakevich to its Board of Directors, teaming with MSPExcellence and acquiring Bravura Networks were just some of TCI’s major accomplishments last year. And as mentioned, the company plans on picking up steam by launching its North American security and compliance practice within the next month and half. We’ll be tracking the company’s progress throughout 2012.

Read More About This Topic

• OS33 Claims MSPs Are Embracing Cloud Webtop Strategy
• TCI Buys Bravura: Cloud Services and Managed Services Converge
• EdgeWave Messaging Security Suite: Hosted Security for MSPs
• Palisade Data Loss Prevention: SaaS Service for MSPs
• N-able Teams with Hartco to Engage Canadian MSPs

Rafte & Company mainly serves law firms, non profits and professional services companies looking to design and integrate new business and technology strategies into their existing working environments. Those strategies include consulting, remote collaboration solutions, document management software support and legal software support. Rafte will now combine its specific vertical expertise with The Aldridge Company’s technology expertise and focus on helping customers implement more efficient business processes.

Rafte and Aldridge plan to offer both SMB and vertical-specific customer bases new managed services like technology and work process evaluations, security and disaster recovery audits, cloud hosting, and an entirely new suite of business consulting services.

“After working closely with Rafte & Company on numerous projects during the past three years, it became clear that we could accomplish more and deliver more value to our customers by combining our IT support services than we could separately,” The Aldridge Company Chief Operating Officer (COO) Patrick Wiley said in a prepared statement.

The MSP market in Texas is quickly becoming one of the more competitive managed services markets in the country. We’ll keep an eye on how well the new Aldridge-Rafte combo competes against other MSPs making headlines in the Lone Star State like White Glove Technologies,  VerityThree, Network Elites, and others.

Tracking Managed Services Provider Mergers and Acquisitions

Meanwhile, here’s an updated list of MSP mergers and acquisitions that MSPmentor has been tracking.

Read More About This Topic

• N-able Teams with Hartco to Engage Canadian MSPs
• EMC VFCache Boosts Oracle, SAP Application Performance
• SolarWinds Acquires EminentWare for Patch Management Software
• Intronis Cloud Backup Integrates with ConnectWise, Adds iPhone, Android Apps
• CA AppLogic Gains Cloud Services Momentum With MSPs

The acquisition builds on AVI-SPL’s strategy, launched in 2009, to become a big-time player in the video communications and managed video services sector. Since the plan was enacted, AVI-SPL has steadily grown its video communications business, which reached $200 million in revenue in 2011.

According to AVI-SPL CEO John Zettel, the company now includes video services in over 50 percent of its projects, and the Iformata acquisition solidifies AVI-SPL’s commitment to further adding video communication services to its managed services offering.

Meanwhile, Iformata has been in business since 2004. Its customer portfolio includes global enterprise companies and equipment manufacturers, all of which will now be served by AVI-SPL.

“With the acquisition of Iformata, we become one of the only video solutions providers who can truly provide ever aspect of the video communications experience,” AVI-SPL Executive VP of Video and Unified Communication Mike Brandofino said in a prepared statement.

Read More About This Topic

• Video as a Service: Rimage Acquires Qumu
• Managed Services: 7 Blogs MSPmentor Didn’t Write, Dec. 16
• Qumu Converges Microsoft SharePoint and Video Services
• ManageEngine Promotes Cisco Video Traffic Monitoring to MSPs
• Yorktel, Blue Jeans Push Managed Video Conferencing Services

Canfield Computers claims its revenues grew 65 percent in 2011 vs. 2010. The company’s managed services clientele includes a range of health care and insurance agencies. Meanwhile, Steel Valley Computers’ clientele includes numerous insurance agencies and law firms. In a prepared statement, Canfield Computers President George McDonnell said the deal will allow Canfield to grow its internal help desk while extending the company’s sales and marketing reach across the region.

McDonnell remains president of the combined company, while Steel Valley leader Brad Murphy joins Canfield as director of business development. The two companies did not disclose how many employees the combined Canfield will have, though I believe Canfield had about six employees prior to the merger.

This is the second MSP merger or acquisition MSPmentor has spotted since the New Year began. On January 1, Network Depot confirmed its buyout of Evolve Technologies, bringing together two well-known MSPs serving SMB customers in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.

MSPmentor is aware of at least one of MSP deal — a substantial business combination — that’s expected to be announced in mid to late January 2012.

Note: Find a complete list of MSP mergers and acquisitions here.

Read More About This Topic

• MSP Mergers and Acquisitions: 2012 Starts With A Bang
• Managed Services Acquisition: Network Depot Buys Evolve Tech
• ePlus Buys Cisco Managed Services Provider VantiCore
• Mergers and Acquisitions: 7 MSPs Acquired Since New Year 2012
• Managed Services Acquisition: Birch Buys AstroTel Assets

7. Unethical M&A Dealings: I traded email with a well-known MSP who wants to warn peer MSPs about unethical moves on the M&A front. The CEO shared some background about how a large publicly held company seemed to string along the MSP, chasing deals together while also discussing a potential M&A combo. But in the end, it seems like the large publicly held company was merely using the small MSP to gather information about the managed services market. More thoughts from MSPmentor soon.

6. Speaking of Mergers and Acquisitions: MSPmentor has confirmed the second and third MSP merger and acquisition deals of 2012. We’ll share details about deal number two later today. Updated, 5:38 p.m. ET, Jan. 2: Canfield Computers and Steel Valley Merge. And details about deal number three — a pretty big deal, I must say — should become public in mid- to late-January 2012. The first MSP M&A deal of 2012, you may recall, involved Network Depot buying Evolve Technologies. Note: We’re tracking all MSP mergers and acquisitions here.

5. Fatal Distraction: Did I mention I got the original Nintendo Entertainment System (circa 1986) for Christmas? I’ve been rocking my 13-year-old son in Blades of Steel. Now, as my birthday approaches, perhaps it’s time to pull the old Atari 2600 out of my attic… where an Intellivision surely looms as well. Yes, you can buy old games for retro video game systems on eBay and Craigslist. But Play n Trade retail locations — which have retro games for sale — have become my preferred destination.

4. Can Both Strategies Win?: In recent days, a few readers have sent me emails asking who has the better strategy — Autotask, which is exiting the product quoting market by selling off VARStreet? Or ConnectWise, which invested in Quosal, the quoting and sales proposal software company? I’m still organizing my thoughts and will share more perspectives soon.

3. How’s That Data Stored?: Several MSPmentor readers have asked me how Cisco’s OnPlus Service for MSPs stores and manages end-customer data. The unspoken question: Can Cisco use that end-customer data to take the end-customers direct and cut MSPs out of the loop? My knee-jerk reaction: I think Cisco is a partner-led company that wouldn’t use Cisco OnPlus Service to upend MSPs. But I’ve reached out to Cisco for perspectives. MSPmentor will share Cisco’s thoughts as soon as we gather the info.

2. Microsoft Office 365 Reality Check: Microsoft Office 365, the SaaS platform for running Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and more, turned six-months-old on December 24, 2011. Some MSPs claim they’ll never re-sell Office 365 since Microsoft controls the end-customer billing. But nearly 43 percent of MSPs that participating in our fifth-annual MSPmentor 100 survey say they’re involved with Office 365. The bigger question: Are MSPs actually generating substantial revenue from Office 365? We’re poking around for perspectives. (Side note: Complete MSPmentor 100 survey results will surface in February 2012.)

1. Did I Say Thank You?: I hope I say it often enough. Nine Lives Media, publisher of MSPmentor, turns four-years-old this month. Our team is still having a blast covering the IT channel across MSPmentor, The VAR Guy and Talkin’ Cloud. Thanks for taking the journey with us. It continues to be a heck of a ride.

That’s all for now. Our entire team will be back to blogging on Tuesday, January 3.

Read More About This Topic

• Managed Services: 7 Blogs MSPmentor Didn’t Write, Jan. 13
• Managed Services: 7 Blogs MSPmentor Didn’t Write, Jan. 6
• 10 Most Read Managed Services Stories Q1 2011
• ConnectWise Capital: Two Years Later
• ConnectWise and Autotask Pursue Vastly Different Long-Term Strategies

Under terms of the deal, Network Depot takes on Evolve Technologies’ staff and will continue to serve Evolve Technologies’ customers. Evolve Technologies CEO Dave Sobel and Network Depot CEO Rich Forsen have indicated that the deal was finalized on December 31, 2011. Chatter about the potential deal emerged about a week or two ago, when Evolve Technologies informed its staff and customers about Network Depot acquiring Evolve.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it sounds like the agreement involves a potential earn out tied to long-term revenues, profits and/or customer retention. Sobel and Forsen declined to describe specifics, but they said the deal has built-in variables that will keep Sobel and the veteran Evolve Technologies team focused on a successful M&A execution.

Behind the Scenes

It sounds like Network Depot and Evolve Technologies have had off-and-on discussions about a potential business combination multiple times — with the latest discussions heating up at ConnectWise‘s IT Nation conference in November 2011. The two companies are located less than 10 miles away from each other. And their respective staff members run in similar circles.

• Forsen and his team have built both Network Depot and Virtual Administrator, a master MSP that gives VARs and resellers an on-ramp into the managed services market.
• Sobel, in addition to building Evolve Technologies, is active on the MSP speaker circuit and helped HTG Peer Groups to organize an MSP peer group in Europe. Sobel also works closely with CompTIA to educate resellers, VARs and MSPs.

Going forward, it sounds like Sobel will pursue new opportunities in the IT channel even as he works to help ensure the Network Depot-Evolve Technologies deal executes against its business plan.

More MSP Mergers, Acquisitions Coming

The Network Depot-Evolve Technologies deal kicks off the 2012 MSP merger and acquisition season — which will certainly include a mix of small, midsize and large deals. MSPmentor is aware of a cloud-centric MSP deal that should be announced within weeks. Plus, Best Buy is expected to complete its buyout of mindSHIFT within days.

Still, not all MSPs are selling. For instance, ETG, an MSP focused on the health care vertical, recently declined multiple buyout bids in order to focus on continued growth.

Read More About This Topic

• MSP Mergers and Acquisitions: 2012 Starts With A Bang
• Managed Services Merger: Canfield Computers and Steel Valley
• Small Business M&A Activity Slows
• MSP Acquisitions: One Deal, More Coming?
• ePlus Buys Cisco Managed Services Provider VantiCore

10. How to Set Managed Services Pricing: Actually, this blog dates back to January 2010 and it offers six tips — from Entrepreneur Magazine — to help MSPs with pricing.

9. Six Surprises Inside the Halls of ConnectWise: When I took a January 2011 trip to ConnectWise’s headquarters, I heard more about ConnectWise’s API strategy and spoke with Co-founders Arnie Bellini and David Bellini about a potential ConnectWise exit strategy.

8. DirectPointe Puts Managed Services Business Up for Sale: MSP M&A activity was fast and furious in Q1 2011. We stumbled onto some documents indicating DirectPointe was up for sale. But come to think of it, I don’t think DirectPointe ever found a buyer for its managed services business — though I need to double-check.

7. Microsoft Office 365 – 10 Frequently Asked Questions: Whether you planned to partner or compete with Microsoft’s cloud, MSPs were eager for information about Office 365. And this FAQ delivered the goods.

6. HP Services, Software — Two Weak Spots In Strong Quarter: Ironically, this is quite an old blog — from February 2010. But it foreshadows the problems that HP would have under CEO Leo Apotheker; HP’s board ultimately replaced Apotheker in September 2011 with former eBay CEO Meg Whitman.

5. Memo to IT Consulting Shops With One to Five Employees: This guest blog, from Quest Software, helped really small MSPs realize that the could potentially compete with the big boys.

4. Kaseya Takes Managed Services to China: Our growing international readership continually digs for information about managed services in Asia. Hence, this 2009 blog entry remains widely read.

3. Microsoft Targeting July 1 for Office 365 Cloud Launch: MSPmentor was nearly on the mark with this blog entry. Microsoft actually delivered Office 365, the successor to Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) a week earlier.

2. ConnectWise, LabTech War Against Kaseya Intensifies: When MSPmentor started hearing some HTG Peer Groups members were jumping from Kaseya to LabTech, we spotted a bigger trend — though Kaseya has since sharpened its focus on existing and target MSPs as partners.

1. Konica Minolta Buys All Covered: This move, announced in January 2011, triggered a major MSP land grab. Interestingly, All Covered has continued to buy MSPs.

We’ll be back on Wednesday, Dec. 28, to share the 10 most read managed services stories from Q2 2011.

Read More About This Topic

• Managed Services: 7 Blogs MSPmentor Didn’t Write, Jan. 6
• Managed Services: 7 Blogs MSPmentor Didn’t Write, Jan. 13
• Managed Services: 7 Blogs MSPmentor Didn’t Write, Dec. 30
• CompTIA Breakaway 2011: Seven Trends Worth Tracking
• Seven Managed Services Blogs MSPmentor Didn’t Write: June 3

7. Marching Forward: ConnectWise CEO Arnie Bellini thinks the synergies between PSA software and sales proposal/quoting software like Quosal will continue to accelerate. Bellini offered MSPmentor some updates on December 22. I’m still organizing a follow-up blog, which will likely surface the week of January 2.

6. Nearly A Done Deal: It sounds like Best Buy’s buyout of mindSHIFT will be completed around year’s end. MSPmentor will reach out to mindSHIFT CEO Paul Chisholm shortly thereafter to see how he’s feeling at the start of 2012.

5. Rest In Peace: Jacob “Jack” Goldman, who left Ford Motor Co. to launch Xerox Corp.’s Palo Alto Research Center, died on December 20, 2011 at age 90, noted SDTimes. Among Xerox PARC’s legacies: The graphical user interface, the mouse, networking… and far more.

4. What Is HTC?: Arlin Sorensen is best-known for his role in building a managed services business (Heartland Technology Solutions) and HTG Peer Groups. And now he’s got an additional focus called Heartland Technology Consultants (HTC). More details soon.

3. M&A Confirmed: A well-known MSP on the U.S. East Coast has now confirmed plans to buy a neighboring MSP. The deal is expected to be signed on or about December 31… MSPmentor expects the official details to surface early in the New Year.

2. Board Meeting: Zenith Infotech‘s board apparently is set to meet January 3. As part of that meeting the board may vote on a shareholder dividend, but The Bombay High Court has asked the firm not to distribute a dividend at this time, according to The Economic Times of India. The reason: Zenith Infotech is locked in dispute with bondholders after defaulting on a bond payment in September 2011.

1. MSPmentor 100 Results: Thanks to those who participated in our fifth-annual MSPmentor 100 survey, which closed December 23, 2011. We’ll unveil the results in February 2012. In the meantime you can read our earlier MSPmentor 100 lists and reports here.

Thanks for all of your readership in 2011, and best wishes for a successful 2012.

Read More About This Topic

• Arlin Sorensen’s Next Move: Heartland Technology Consultants Preps 2013 Launch
• ConnectWise IT Nation: Eight Trends From Day 1
• HTG Peer Groups: Larger MSPs Sit Down At New Table
• Level Platforms: Help Desk Meets Managed Services Software
• ConnectWise Capital: Two Years Later

Autotask acquired VARStreet in March 2010 as part of a one-two punch to help MSPs manage IT services (Autotask) and product sourcing (VARStreet). But the Autotask-VARStreet synergies never fully materialized. Yes, VARStreet showed signs of growth — doubling the platform’s user base within two months of the Autotask deal. But I always had a silent suspicion that VARStreet’s platform required far more enhancement than Autotask anticipated. Looking back on our own coverage, MSPmentor should have been a bit more skeptical about the Autotask-VARStreet combo.

The Autotask-VARStreet Timeline

Former CEO Bob Godgart did a lot right for Autotask — building the company into a $20 million business from about 2001 through the end of 2010. But the Autotask-VARStreet deal never really clicked. By late 2010, sources close to Autotask told me that the company should have done more due diligence on VARStreet before making the acquisition. From late 2010 through the present, Autotask was mostly silent about VARStreet — continuing to upgrade and enhance the platform but not saying much publicly about the effort.

At the Autotask Community Live conference in May 2011, new CEO Mark Cattini — Godgart’s successor — barely mentioned VARStreet. Also, VARStreet had only a small presence on Autotask’s conference agenda. Check this interview (question number six) from May 2011, and you’ll see Cattini tactfully de-emphasizing VARStreet as a core focus.

Earlier this week, Cattini shared additional insights with MSPmentor. I asked Cattini when he realized VARStreet may not be a fit with Autotask. His reply: “As soon as I got here [in December 2010], to be honest, I found it hard to see how VARStreet really fit in with our strategy.”

Keeping an Open Mind

No doubt, VARs and MSPs need product sourcing and price quoting tools to speed sales proposals and win more business. Options like VARStreet, CNet’s Channel Online, Quosal and QuoteWerks can potentially meet those needs. But Cattini doesn’t want Autotask to play favorites; instead, he wants to ensure Autotask’s own SaaS platform is open on the back-end (integrating with a range of ISVs and cloud services) and open on the front end (supporting all web browsers).

“The product [VARStreet] has become better and better,” Cattini told MSPmentor this week. “But fundamentally we decided that VARStreet didn’t fit our long-term strategy of being open. So we’re transferring [VARStreet's] ownership in the best, least-disruptive way. We’re handing it back to the guys who think all day about the VARStreet tool.”

VARStreet’s headcount will essentially remain the same as the tool’s ownership shifts from Autotask to VARStreet Inc. According to today’s press announcement:

“The new company, VARStreet, Inc., backed by private investors will be led by VARStreet veterans Shankar Gopalan and Shiv Agarwal who built VARStreet’s existing client base and customer relationships, and Vikas Bhir and his team, who have helped create, develop and support the VARStreet service since its inception.”

No doubt, VARStreet does have a loyal following among some well-known VARs such as Pomeroy IT. The platform has been around since 1999. I asked Cattini if Autotask lost substantial money with the VARStreet purchase and now sale. His reply: “We’re happy with the transaction.”

I’ve also reached out to VARStreet for their perspective going forward. Meanwhile, VARStreet offered these perspectives on its 2012 strategy. The strategy sounds promising but the company could face intensifying competition, especially since Quosal is now backed by ConnectWise Capital, and QuoteWerks is completing its strongest year to date.

Autotask’s International Moves

Meanwhile, Autotask recently raised $6 million to fuel its global expansion strategy. Cattini offered MSPmentor some updates on that effort during our phone conversation this week. More on that later today.

Read More About This Topic

• Sales Proposal and Quoting Software: Can You Compete Without it?
• ConnectWise Capital: Two Years Later
• Rumor: ConnectWise Capital Investing in Quosal?
• A Closer Look Inside the ConnectWise Capital Family
• ConnectWise and Autotask Pursue Vastly Different Long-Term Strategies

More than a month ago, an MSPmentor 100 company signed a letter of intent with a cloud services provider on the U.S. east coast. Sources close to the deal say it will likely be announced in early January if not sooner. Just my own estimate, but I suspect the combined entity will generate more than $10 million in annual revenues. It also sounds like there are existing synergies between each management team. As soon as official details surface MSPmentor will share them.

Meanwhile, two MSPs serving SMB customers on the U.S. east coast are also finalizing an M&A deal. I believe the MSPs’ employees have already been informed, disclosures to customers are under way, and an official deal could be announced on our about January 1, assuming this chatter is accurate.

MSPmentor will continue to track both apparent deals.

Read More About This Topic

• ePlus Buys Cisco Managed Services Provider VantiCore
• Mergers and Acquisitions: 7 MSPs Acquired Since New Year 2012
• MSP Mergers and Acquisitions: 2012 Starts With A Bang
• Managed Services Acquisition: Birch Buys AstroTel Assets
• Beyond Retail: Best Buy Completes mindSHIFT Acquisition