Blue Mantis CEO: Latest Acquisition Helps ‘Deepen Our Networking Talent Bench’

‘We plan to scale throughout North America continuing our expansion from our East Coast base to other regions including Canada,’ says Blue Mantis CEO Josh Dinneen.

Blue Mantis has been on an acquisition spree with its fourth deal of the year and eighth since 2023, underscoring a rapid transformation from organic growth to strategic scaling.

The Portsmouth, N.H.-based company, which made it on the 2025 CRN Solution Provider 500 list, stepped up its acquisition activity in the past year as part of a deliberate strategy to broaden its reach and enhance service offerings.

“We’ve shifted gears from organic-only growth to making strategic acquisitions that help us expand geographically, deepen our capabilities and strengthen cross-sell and upsell opportunities,” Josh Dinneen, CEO of Blue Mantis, told CRN. “It’s all about being able to offer more value across a broader footprint.”

Earlier this month, Blue Mantis acquired Kingston, N.H.-based North Shore Data Services to strengthen its networking capabilities and broaden its market reach. The acquisition brings more than 200 new customers across diverse industries and also deepens Blue Mantis’ offerings in network infrastructure. Terms of the deal and number of employees coming over in the acquisition were not disclosed.

North Shore Data Services will enhance Blue Mantis’ existing networking portfolio including SD-WAN, LAN/WAN, wireless implementation and cloud connectivity. The integration also introduces valuable technology partnerships with major vendors like IBM, Cisco, Dell and HPE.

“This acquisition allows us to help more businesses modernize their infrastructure securely and efficiently,” said Dinneen. “North Shore Data Services’ expertise and customer-first approach align perfectly with our mission.”

Looking ahead, Blue Mantis plans to scale across North America and extend its footprint beyond the East Coast to other regions.

CRN spoke to Dinneen about the latest acquisition, his M&A strategy going forward and plans for expansion.

What made North Shore Data Services an attractive acquisition target for Blue Mantis?

The networking space is one of the fastest growing and most essential areas in IT right now. Networking is foundational to cybersecurity, data centers and modernization initiatives like SD-WAN. Talent in this space is always in high demand and North Shore brings both technical depth and strong regional expertise. They also have a proven track record in stadium and sports venue networking which a growing vertical for us. They’ve worked with a lot of facilities doing refreshes and rebuilds which aligns well with our partnerships in sports and entertainment.

How does North Shore’s customer base enhance or diversify Blue Mantis’ portfolio?

Sports and entertainment is just one piece of it. North Shore aligns with our mid-market focus and supports our broader portfolio which includes public sector, healthcare, finance, manufacturing, retail, energy and life sciences. We’ve now added around 500 new customers in the last year through acquisitions, contributing to our base of 2,500 total clients. We’re focused on both acquiring new logos and maintaining low attrition.

What does this deal mean for existing customers of both companies?

It’s not about radical service changes, it’s about enhanced delivery. North Shore helps deepen our networking talent bench giving customers better access to in-region resources. Networking talent is hard to find and our customers often struggle with that. Whether it’s through managed services, staff augmentation or project work, this acquisition helps us bridge talent gaps.

This is Blue Mantis’ fourth acquisition in 2025 and eighth since 2023. What’s fueling this pace?

We pivoted in 2018 toward becoming an IT services-focused organization. Until recently, that was mostly organic growth. In the last year, we started making strategic acquisitions to scale faster by expanding geographically, deepening capabilities and enhancing our ability to cross-sell and upsell. It’s all about being able to offer more value across a broader footprint.

So how does Blue Mantis balance growth with maintaining its culture?

Culture is central to everything we do. We prioritize cultural alignment in every acquisition as we’re a team-first, client-first organization. Our hiring is intentional and we look for people who will be great teammates, not just great performers. Our culture is collaborative across departments and we all share responsibility for maintaining and nurturing it.

So what’s your vision for Blue Mantis over the next three to five years?

We plan to scale throughout North America continuing our expansion from our East Coast base to other regions including Canada. We also operate a 275-person global delivery center in India, which helps us deliver enterprise-class service to mid-market clients with flexibility across onshore, nearshore and offshore models. We’ll also expand capabilities in line with evolving customer demands for outcome-based services.

What are your thoughts on the current M&A landscape for MSPs and vendors?

The market saw peak consolidation in 2021, but it’s cooled a bit since. That said, there’s still significant opportunity especially with so many founder-led companies out there. Many are realizing that joining forces with a platform like Blue Mantis is the right path to scale.

Any upcoming acquisitions we should be watching for?

We’re taking a bit of a breather to focus on assimilating recent acquisitions and driving organic growth. We’ll be selective moving forward with maybe one or two more strategic deals in the next 18 months.