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May 5, 2023: By Stephen P. Schmidt – Reporter, Louisville Business First
For years — decades, even — that was the narrative behind Virtual Telecomm and SinglePoint Solutions technology advisory.
The two technology advisory companies were direct competitors in the Louisville market — offering similar services such as IT advising, cloud-based solutions and UCaaS (unified communications as a service).
“At a 10,000-foot view, we didn’t look much different from one another,” said Nic Jones, the former president of SinglePoint Solutions.
When it came to Derby Week, one would have an outing at Churchill Downs for their employees and partner technology providers on Wednesday; the other, often with the same providers, on Thursday, also known as “Thurby.” Both would host their events at the track’s Starting Gate Suites.
Furthermore, they would often hang out together at industry conferences — void of the animosity that often comes standard with competing for customers on the same turf.
“We all were friends, and we all competed against each other,” said Mark White, who founded Virtual Telecomm technology advisory in 2004. “That was extremely rare … I think a lot has a lot to do with just Louisville, right? … And so we never were enemies. We always knew we had different customer bases, but at some point, we knew we could do more together.”
Added Jones: “We competed but it was always friendly. I always kind of described them as damn near cousins — competing cousins, if you will.”
Back in 2021, Jones and White would have conceptual talks of what it would be like if the two sides ever merged into one company, Jones said.
“We both knew that if two [companies] came together in this market, it would be Virtual Telecomm and SinglePoint — just because of the [shared] DNA,” Jones said.
And then both companies caught the same wave, albeit a blue one.
In November, Parsippany, New Jersey-based Bluewave Technology Group acquired Virtual Telecomm for an undisclosed amount of money, ending a multi-month courtship and placing White as an ambassador and equity partner, among other changes for his colleagues.
At the time, White did not know that SinglePoint would be acquired less than three months later in February, as Bluewave continued to expand its national footprint through a merger and acquisition game plan that is backed by a $75 million influx of capital in 2022 from Virginia-based Columbia Capital.
When the deal was announced that Bluewave would be acquiring the entire SinglePoint Communications Group from the private equity firm Soterra Capital, it was the 10th acquisition since receiving the major financial backing. It should be noted that, as of now, no other acquisitions have been made since.
“I always thought that Single Point would be a great merger,” White said. “It just happened with Bluewave. It wasn’t planned that way. It just came together.”
Bluewave now employs approximately 20 people in Louisville. Recently, five employees who were working out of SinglePoint’s offices in Middletown at 210 Townpark Circle, moved into what was Virtual Telecomm’s offices in Jeffersontown at 3410 Office Pointe Place.
“We actually decided to do it quickly, because we knew that their culture is so much alike,” White said.
To date, Bluewave has around 140 employees and 6,000 clients. With employees and providers spread out all over the country, getting together can be a challenge outside of large industry events.
Derby Week, though, represented one of those times — as many of the providers had taken a red-eye flight directly from Las Vegas, where the Channel Partners Conference & Expo was taking place.
Fittingly, on Thursday, Bluewave had rented out two of the Starting Gate Suites, side-by-side, for the occasion — in a scene that for many like White and Jones seemed as natural as colorful fascinators at Churchill Downs in early May.
When I had last spoken to Jones in February, he had mentioned that Bluewave’s investment through the two acquisitions would help ensure Louisville a significant technology advisory hub. On Thursday, with a mint julep in hand, he stood by those words. Back then, Bluewave CEO Seth Penland did tell me that he would not be surprised if the headcount in Louisville’s tech advisory increased.
“Just the amount of talent that I think we can keep in our market as it relates to cybersecurity, said Jones, adding that would be a major point of investment for tech advisory companies “in the next five to 10 years,” if it is not already.
“There’ll be an advisory hub here that can support the region,” he said, “not just a small portion of it.”
As we were about to part ways, Jones informed me that he had bet the correct win-place-show results on day’s second race.
“I made $18 today and that’s probably going to be it,” he said.
Then after flipping to the TwinSpires app, he found out more good news: a straight winner, proof that two is generally better than one.
“I just won $41,” he added with a chuckle, “so I’m definitely stopping now.”
Bluewave is a premier technology advisory and lifecycle management company with a comprehensive approach to optimizing clients’ ability to grow revenue, reduce costs, and improve efficiency. Bluewave streamlines the technology buying and management process for businesses of all sizes across the United States with four key services: Technology Evaluation, Strategic Sourcing, Expense Management, and Operations Support. Specializing in modernizing the IT and telecom infrastructure, Bluewave partners with proven cloud, network, security, and collaboration service providers to develop the best solution while maximizing the clients’ technology investment.
Lisa Guillaume
press@bluewave.net
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