Wheelhouse IT Dives Deeper Into Health Care, Buys Untangled Solutions

In a bid to bolster its offerings around a lucrative vertical, managed services provider Wheelhouse IT has acquired health care specialist Untangled Solutions.

The acquisition, which closed July 1, was announced Monday by both companies at ChannelCon 2016, in Hollywood, Fla. Financial details were not disclosed.

The acquisition helps Wheelhouse better navigate state and federal security and privacy regulations and offer solutions that comply with those mandates, according to Chris Johnson, co-founder of Untangled Solutions, an MSP based in Los Angeles.

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Wheelhouse was founded two years ago when its president Adam Kaplan, and CEO Gani Zebersky, merged a number of MSPs they owned.

Both men have worked with clients in the medical field for the greater part of a decade, Kaplan said. But while Wheelhouse has been working in that market, it's not one the company has focused heavily on.

’We are savvy [in the health care space], but not nearly as savvy as the guys at Untangled … They have a laser focus on security and compliance,’ Kaplan said.

Zebersky said the acquisition will allow Wheelhouse to engage health care organizations more directly.

’We have talked about really focusing in the health care market for years, and now, with [Untangled], we can lunge into it,’ he said.

The acquisition has also expanded Wheelhouse’s national reach to Iowa and California, where Untangled has operations, said Johnson.

As health care solutions continue to become more complicated, with automated billing and an increased number of devices on businesses' networks, Johnson said Wheelhouse understands the need for the added expertise around compliance that Untangled has, such as with the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Untangled’s ’Evergreen’ solution, which allows a client to self-audit its security features and check its regulatory compliance, is one of the more valuable products Wheelhouse gains with the deal, Johnson said.

But Johnson said Wheelhouse will not restrain his company's development of new solutions. He said some solutions under development will take program compliance into backup and business continuity products.

In the meantime, the acquisition by Wheelhouse allows Johnson to back away from the day-to-day business operations and focus on strategy and business development, he said.

With the deal done, Johnson and fellow co-founder Josh Smith joined the Wheelhouse management team as director of strategy and director of West Coast operations, respectively, according to a statement released by the company Monday.

Untangled will keep its name. All five of its employees will be added to Wheelhouse’s 35-person team.

According to the statement, Wheelhouse also gains access to Untangled’s market expertise and high-level relationships with security vendors Datto and Sophos, as well as its close ties with the industry nonprofit CompTIA.

Kaplan said he also hopes to expand Wheelhouse’s health care offerings and use that to grow his company.

’We are definitely looking to grow, and we are really trying to get to that next level,’ he said.