Fast-Growth Goliath CDI To Spin Off Data Center Unit, Focus On Cloud, Managed Services

Hybrid cloud and managed services phenom Computer Design & Integration (CDI) is spinning off its data center-focused joint venture to position both businesses for better growth.

The Teterboro, N.J.-based company, No. 80 on the CRN 2015 Solution Provider 500, plans to separate from data center infrastructure provider CDI Southeast by the end of March, concluding a five-year joint venture by creating two independent, highly focused private companies, according to CDI.

Trish Bakker and Eric Bakker will continue as CEO and president, respectively, of CDI LLC, which employs 51 to 200 people, according to the company’s LinkedIn profile. CDI Southeast, meanwhile, will be led by Dave Brown, its current president, and will assume a new brand identity once the spinoff closes.

[Related: Racing To The Top: CRN's 2015 Triple Crown Award Winners]

"The split will allow both companies to pursue distinct strategies to drive profitable growth," Brown said in a statement. Terms of the separation were not disclosed, and CDI LLC and CDI Southeast weren’t immediately available for comment.

The spinoff will provide both companies with greater independence, focus, financial resources and flexibility, Eric Bakker said in a statement, with CDI redirecting investments to its cloud and managed services annuity businesses. The company recently expanded its Advanced Services Group, which provides expertise in software-defined networking and data centers and hyper-converged systems.

CDI is one of only a handful of two-year CRN Triple Crown Winners, meaning the company appeared on the CRN lists in both 2014 and 2015 of the SP 500, Fast Growth 150 and Tech Elite 250 -- which recognizes partners with the highest levels of certifications from major vendors. CDI moved up three spots on the SP 500 from No. 83 last year, and notched Fast Growth rankings of No. 69 last year and No. 131 this year.

"Our work with CDI Southeast over the past five years has significantly strengthened our core business and created new opportunities for business growth," Eric Bakker said in a statement.

CDI's managed services practice supports more than 6,000 desktops and 1,000 servers, with customers typically reducing their operational costs by up to 30 percent, according to CDI’s website. The company’s cloud solutions practice, meanwhile, focuses on cloud infrastructure, cloud-optimized applications, end-user computing architecture and IT-as-a-Service.

CDI Southeast was developed in 2010 as a joint venture with CDI LLC and focuses on data center infrastructure design, integration and support for businesses’ evolving IT needs.

CDI was founded in 1995, is focused on the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions and has 700 customers, more than 80 percent of which are in the financial services, pharmaceutical, health-care, public sector, legal, media and entertainment verticals.

The company is an EMC Platinum Business partner, a Cisco Gold partner, a VMware Premier solution provider, a Microsoft Gold partner and an IBM Business partner.

CDI LLC has offices in New York; Teterboro, and Parsippany, N.J.; West Conshohocken, Pa.; Charlotte, N.C.; and Roswell, Ga. CDI Southeast has offices in Charlotte, N.C.; Columbia, S.C.; and Atlanta.

PUBLISHED DEC. 11, 2015