Growth-centric technology leader joins Bluewave’s executive team

PARSIPPANY, N.J.– (May 31, 2023) – Bluewave Technology Group (“Bluewave”), a leading technology and telecom advisory company, is pleased to announce the appointment of Val Milshtein as Chief Information Officer. Milshtein brings extensive platform-based business models experience and sales enablement expertise to Bluewave, further enhancing our client journey and optimizing the platform to support growth and foster enhanced interactions with clients, suppliers, and partners.

“As Bluewave continues to grow and expand its market presence, the timing is perfect to have someone of Val’s caliber on the team,” says Seth Penland, CEO of Bluewave Technology Group. “Val will be responsible for designing and implementing our authoritative data platform model, which will improve decision-making, client interactions, and operational efficiency. I am confident Val’s leadership and vision will advance our strategy and strengthen our operations. A strong technology foundation with a single source of truth is essential in delivering exceptional client experiences. Our commitment to invest in excellence will solidify Bluewave’s position as a trusted partner in the technology industry.”

With over 25 years of experience in product development, process design, software engineering, and systems integration in the telecom and data center industries, Milshtein brings a wealth of knowledge to Bluewave. He has a proven track record of successfully building and integrating multiple successful telecom businesses, including overseeing ten expansions and ten acquisitions/integrations. Milshtein most recently served as the Chief Technology Officer for Stack Infrastructure, a multinational build-to-suit data center company. Before that, he was Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President of Network Services at Cologix, an interconnection and data center company. Milshtein has also held executive positions at Level 3 Communications (now Lumen).

“I am excited to join Bluewave Technology Group as Chief Information Officer,” says Val Milshtein. “Bluewave’s mission to optimize the technology buying experience aligns perfectly with my expertise. By investing in innovative systems and processes, we will ensure that our clients receive unparalleled support and solutions tailored to their unique requirements while supporting sustainable growth. I look forward to collaborating closely with the team to build a scalable architecture that will provide a comprehensive and unified view of the business and our clients.”

About Bluewave Technology Group

Bluewave is a premier technology and telecom advisory 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 Assessments, Strategic Sourcing, Managed Execution, and Ongoing Technology Optimization. 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.

Media contacts

Lisa Guillaume
press@bluewave.net

May 5, 2023: By Stephen P. Schmidt – Reporter, Louisville Business First

Similar, but different in the technology advisory space.

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.

Perfect Timing

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.

Expertise & Talent for the Region

“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.”

About Bluewave Technology Group

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.

Media contacts

Lisa Guillaume
press@bluewave.net

PHOENIX, February 21, 2023 — Marko Spremo, Vice President of Bluewave Technology Group, has been named a 2023 Channel Influencer Award winner by Channel Futures.

Marko Spremo is one of 50 individuals recognized as a thought leader who will impact the direction of the IT and communications indirect sales channel in 2023. He is profiled in a gallery on the Channel Futures website and in the 2023 Channel Influencers digital issue.

Spremo and the other 49 Channel Influencers will be honored at the Channel Partners Conference & Expo, May 1-4, at the Venetian Resort & Expo in Las Vegas.

Since 2018, the Channel Futures Channel Influencer Awards have recognized individuals expected to have a significant impact on the IT and communications indirect sales channel in the year ahead. These individuals are considered to be channel leaders, dedicated to the channel, and working to keep it moving forward.

About Marko Spremo

As Managing Partner and VP of Sales Strategy at Bluewave, Spremo leads all business development activities to assist clients in sourcing, procuring, and managing telecom services and their associated expenditures. Spremo also manages the AT&T Solution Provider program, a relationship that has grown successfully since 2013. Prior to Bluewave, Spremo co-founded the San Jose, CA based Telapprise, LLC, in 2002. Spremo established the strategy to expand Telapprise into a full-service agency providing telecom audits and assessments, telecom expense and lifecycle management, asset and contract management, consulting, and carrier services support. Bluewave acquired Telapprise in 2021.

“Our Channel Influencer award winners share a number of common traits, chief among them being their dedication to the channel,” said Bobby DeMarzo, vice president of content, Informa Tech Channels Group. “In our conversations with this year’s honorees, they all cited the importance of sharing information and helping. They consider ‘influence’ to be an opportunity to help others.”

“Our editors are in the trenches, so they know who’s truly making waves and influencing the channel,” said Craig Galbraith, editorial director for Channel Futures. “We are once again proud to highlight the best and brightest Channel Influencers — those who lead with actions and words that set an example for the entire industry.”

About Channel Futures

Channel Futures is a media and events destination for the information and communication technologies (ICT) channel community. We provide information, perspective and connection for the entire channel ecosystem, including solution providers (SPs), managed service providers (MSPs), managed security service providers (MSSPs), cloud service providers (CSPs), value-added resellers (VARs) and distributors, technology solutions brokerages, subagents and agents, as well as leading technology vendor partners and communication providers.

Our properties include many awards programs such as the Channel Futures MSP 501, a list of the most influential and fastest-growing providers of managed services in the technology industry; Channel Partners events, which delivers unparalleled in-person events including Channel Partners Conference & Expo, Channel Partners Leadership Summit, Women’s Leadership Summit, the MSP Summit and Channel Partners Europe; and a DEI Community Group, our initiative to educate, support and promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) in the ICT channel industry. Channel Futures is where the world meets the channel; we are leading Channel Partners forward. More information is available at channelfutures.com.

Channel Futures is part of Informa Tech, a market-leading B2B information provider with depth and specialization in ICT sector. Every year, we welcome 14,000+ subscribers to our research, more than 4 million unique monthly visitors to our digital communities, 18,200+ students to our training programs and 225,000 delegates to our events.

About Bluewave Technology Group

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. Learn more at www.bluewave.net.

Media contacts

Lisa Guillaume
press@bluewave.net

Soterra Capital, which bought SinglePoint in 2016, is keeping equity in the combined company

February 6, 2023  ||  Written by James Anderson for Channel Futures

Bluewave Technology Group has acquired SinglePoint Communications Group in a move that doubles down on its Louisville, Kentucky-area presence and strengthens its East Coast footprint.

The deal represents one of the first instances of a private equity company selling its purchased technology advisor (agent) partner. Soterra Capital, which bought SinglePoint Solutions in 2016 and later bought other technology advisory firms, will be a minority equity holder in Bluewave following the sale.

Executives involved with the deal said SinglePoint and Soterra were pursuing a business model similar to that of Bluewave. The latter aims to unify acquired companies into a single platform for full life-cycle technology advisory services.

“The Bluewave team shares our DNA of ensuring that customer outcomes are top of mind,” SinglePoint president Nic Jones said. “As we envisioned all of us as one team, it became apparent that our people and clients would greatly benefit by locking arms with Bluewave to lead customers through the IT procurement landscape moving forward. The added scale and expertise will bring significant value to clients as we look to disrupt and set a new standard for IT procurement and consulting.”

Jones, a former Schneider Electric sales manager, has signed on as Bluewave’s vice president of sales.

Bluewave, which has been using funding from Columbia Capital to bring agents and life-cycle management partners into its family, now employs 140 people as a result of the acquisition. It has also bolstered its disaster-recovery-as-a-service capabilities through the deal.

The parties did not disclose the financial terms of the transaction.

Background

Louisville-based SinglePoint has existed since 1999 but has seen significant transformation over the last seven years. Soterra Capital acquired the company and Louisville-based Palladium Communication Group in 2016. It went on to buy four more companies: Louisville-based Engaged Pro, New Jersey-based Sky Technology Partners in 2021, and Lexington, Kentucky-based SinglePoint Solutions of central Kentucky.

SinglePoint and Bluewave maintain similar geographical footprints. Bluewave in November 2022 announced the acquisition of Louisville-based Virtual Telecomm.

“With SinglePoint, we are strengthening our presence in Kentucky, New York, and New Jersey. And we are doubling down on our enterprise focus with investments in experienced technologists who are vital in enabling organizations to stay ahead in the fast-changing market,” Bluewave founder and CEO Seth Penland said.

The Seller: Soterra Capital

Penland described Soterra Capital as a “family-backed” group that had built strong roots in the channel. Soterra has offices in Louisville and Austin, Texas. Its website lists its preferred targets as majority investments in businesses of $2 million-$30 million in revenue and $1 million-$10 million in EBITDA.

Moreover, Penland and Soterra managing partner Jeremy Carter said the private equity firm hadn’t wanted to sell SinglePoint; however, that changed when it met Bluewave, Carter said.

“Our expectations and plan were for SinglePoint to be a near-permanent hold, but as we came to understand Bluewave’s strategy and team, we realized we have a similar view of this market and how to best position for the future,” Carter said. “By coming together with Bluewave, we decided that we could generate more value with lower risk for our team and owners and deliver a better experience to our customers. We are excited and eager to continue transforming this industry together.”

Penland said Soterra as a minority equity holder will play a key role in M&A going forward.

“They really spent a lot of time building up relationships in the industry,” Penland told Channel Futures. “Some those transactions have been consummated, and others are still kind of in the pipeline.”

Bluewave’s other acquisitions include iSymplify and Compass Solutions. In a blockbuster move for the partner space, the company recently bought Pennsylvania-based Helm Partners.

Media contacts

Lisa Guillaume
press@bluewave.net

Latest acquisition makes Bluewave the most significant IT advisory firm in Kentucky, with expanded presence in New York and New Jersey

Parsippany, N.J., February 6, 2023 – Bluewave Technology Group (“Bluewave”), a strategic, high-growth technology advisory and lifecycle management company, today announced that it has acquired Single Point Communications Group, LLC (“SinglePoint”), a Louisville technology consulting and advisory agency. This transaction further expands the company’s footprint in Louisville following the announcement of Virtual Telecomm, making it the most significant IT advisory firm in the region. Bluewave now has nearly 140 employees and offices throughout the U.S., serving over 6,000 clients.

SinglePoint has a rich history in IT advisory, having been formed in 2016 when Soterra Capital, an investment and asset management firm, acquired Kentucky-based SinglePoint Solutions and Palladium Communications Group. To expand its footprint, SinglePoint acquired two leading IT agencies in 2021: Engaged Pro, based in Louisville, Kentucky, and Sky Technology Partners in Wayne, New Jersey. In 2022, the company acquired SinglePoint Solutions of Central Kentucky, another IT agency based in Lexington, Kentucky. The combined entity operated under the SinglePoint Solutions brand, providing an enhanced single-point-of-contact experience to support their clients’ long-term IT solutions, sourcing, and service needs.

With deep IT specialization capabilities in the healthcare industry and a strong track record of delivering value and driving cost savings to customers in retail, logistics, banking, and finance segments, SinglePoint has built trusted partnerships with enterprise clients. SinglePoint has focused on optimizing critical infrastructure and applications through its expertise in building and executing high-value cloud computing, Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS), and data center solutions for clients with mission-critical needs.

“Soterra is a unique, long-term focused, family-office-backed sponsor that had no interest in selling SinglePoint,” said Jeremy Carter, Managing Partner at Soterra. “Our expectations and plan were for SinglePoint to be a near-permanent hold, but as we came to understand Bluewave’s strategy and team, we realized we have a similar view of this market and how to best position for the future. By coming together with Bluewave, we decided that we could generate more value with lower risk for our team and owners and deliver a better experience to our customers. We are excited and eager to continue transforming this industry together.”

“The Bluewave team shares our DNA of ensuring that customer outcomes are top of mind,” said Nic Jones, President of SinglePoint. “As we envisioned all of us as one team, it became apparent that our people and clients would greatly benefit by locking arms with Bluewave to lead customers through the IT procurement landscape moving forward. The added scale and expertise will bring significant value to clients as we look to disrupt and set a new standard for IT procurement and consulting.”

“SinglePoint was embracing a similar strategy as our company. And after four successful acquisitions, Soterra determined that joining forces with Bluewave to create a leading national IT advisory business was a better strategy than going it alone,” said Seth Penland, Founder and CEO of Bluewave. “With SinglePoint, we are strengthening our presence in Kentucky, New York, and New Jersey. And we are doubling down on our enterprise focus with investments in experienced technologists who are vital in enabling organizations to stay ahead in the fast-changing market.”

The SinglePoint Solutions acquisition further enhances the level of support Bluewave delivers to clients while expanding its portfolio of IT advisory expertise and capabilities. It marks an essential milestone in the company’s aggressive growth plan with Columbia Capital, a sector-focused investment firm with investments in enterprise IT, digital infrastructure, and mobility, to build a national technology advisory services provider. The financial terms of this transaction were not disclosed. Following this transaction, Soterra will continue to work with Bluewave to leverage relationships to broaden the Bluewave ecosystem, and Nic Jones will be joining Bluewave as Vice President of Sales.

About Bluewave Technology Group

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.

About SinglePoint Solutions

SinglePoint Solutions was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. It operates as a technology solutions consultant that serves medium-sized enterprises. The company offers comprehensive technology audits and sells a broad array of communications, connectivity, security, and data services custom-architected to meet customers’ needs and deliver substantial cost savings.

About Soterra Capital

Soterra Capital is a private investment firm with offices in Austin, Texas, and Louisville, Kentucky. The firm takes a fundamental, long-term investment approach, focused on private companies in the lower middle market with capable management teams, strong operations, and a commitment to excellence, integrity, family, and faith. The managing partners are Mark Franco and Jeremy Carter. For more information, visit Soterra’s website at https://www.soterracap.com/about-us.

Media contacts

Lisa Guillaume
press@bluewave.net

iSymplify, a Bluewave Company, is recognized for enabling and delivering success in helping organizations reimagine their customer experiences

St. Louis, MO, January 31, 2023 – iSymplify, a Bluewave Company, has been named Breakthrough Partner of the Year by Five9, a leading provider of the intelligent cloud contact center. The Five9 2022 Global Partner Awards recognize the achievements of the Five9 global ecosystem of channel partners including Systems Integrators, strategic alliance partners, and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs).

iSymplify, a Bluewave Company, has been working with Five9 since 2016 and was the first agent partner to officially close a project in the Channel. iSymplify and the rest of the Bluewave team drive successful CX outcomes for clients by providing CX assessments and strategy as well as managed execution and optimization support. The Five9 partnership with Bluewave has strengthened over the years as the two organizations work together to drive client ROI in CX transformations.

“Five9 is the definition of what a true partnership looks like. Our trust and respect for their team spans across all departments from sales to implementation and ongoing support,” advised Lorie Burkemper, Managing Partner, iSymplify, a Bluewave Company. “The leadership team has always focused on client outcomes and doing the right thing. I have confidence that our clients will not only be happy with the solution but will see the value resulting in meeting their strategic objectives and improving their client experiences. That’s exactly what I’m looking for when we make supplier recommendations to our clients.”

The growing Five9 partner ecosystem reflects the company’s “build with” philosophy and the recognition that delivering customer engagement solutions of the future will require co-innovating with software and service providers that can extend Five9 capabilities, as well as its reach.

“At Five9, we recognize that our partners play a key role in delivering excellence,” said Jake Butterbaugh, Senior Vice President, Global Partner Organization, Five9. “Our partnerships of all types and sizes are critical to our success. Moreover, our partnerships are critical to our mutual customers’ successes, and our 2022 would not have been the same without iSymplify, a Bluewave Company. We congratulate and thank them, along with all our 2022 Five9 Global Partner Award winners and look forward to many more reasons to celebrate in 2023.”

To learn more about the Five9 2022 Global Partner Award winners, click here.

About Bluewave Technology Group

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. Learn more at Bluewave.net.

About Five9

Five9 brings the power of cloud innovation to more than 2,500 customers worldwide and facilitates billions of call minutes annually. The Five9 Intelligent Cloud Contact Center provides digital engagement, analytics, workflow automation, workforce optimization, and practical AI to create more human customer experiences, engage and empower agents, and deliver tangible business results.

Media contacts

Lisa Guillaume
press@bluewave.net