MSP Logically Acquires Sullivan Data Management, CEO Says It Is The ‘First Of Many’

‘What started us on this journey was looking at the market, looking at consolidation and deciding whether we were going to lead or be led,’ Logically CEO Chris Claudio tells CRN.

Portland, Maine-based MSP Logically is acquiring Sullivan Data Management in a move that expands the company’s presence on the East Coast but also keeps it relevant in a landscape that is seeing increased competition through consolidation as well as investment from private equity.

“What started us on this journey was looking at the market, looking at consolidation and deciding whether we were going to lead or be led,” Logically CEO Chris Claudio told CRN. “We’ve decided that we’re going to lead and be part of the consolidation and be a platform for what we are doing now. The private equity world has woken up to the fact that MSPs, good ones, are actually really good businesses if they’re run right, if they have a good business model.”

Claudio said two examples of MSPs run right are Logically and its acquisition, Sullivan Data Management. The Yorktown Heights, N.Y.- based company works with public customers as well as nonprofits, which aligns well with Logically’s customers, Claudio said.

“They have a great business,” he said. “They have great clients. They have a great leader in [CEO] Glenn Sullivan. We really like their business model, but the geography was a key factor there,” Claudio said. “New York is a great market. It’s north of the city a little bit, so it’s not in the heart of Manhattan, with heavy competition. But it does get us into the New York market.”

Claudio said the company is not only keeping all of Sullivan Data Management’s employees, including Sullivan, it is hiring more and expanding the business.

“They’ve got a really talented staff,” he said. “We’re planning on keeping everyone on board. We’re going to add some resources down there. One of the things we bring to the table is a good sales and marketing strategy, so we’re going to plan to grow that market.”

Logically, which is focused on small to midsize organizations, provides IT managed services to over 500 customers from Maine to California. It started business in 1999.

Claudio said this is the first of the company’s acquisitions this year, but it is eyeing three or four more targets as it looks to expand its territory.

“This is part of our growth strategy,” Claudio said. “We’re going to be acquiring across the country. This is the first sizable one and we have a number planned. This is going to be our strategy going forward.”

Logically owns and operates its own MSP platform, OpLogic, which it will deploy to Sullivan Data Management as well. Claudio called OpLogic the “heart of the company.”

“It gives us a leg up on the market,” Claudio said. “We know our peers really well. We’re part of a peer group with 650 other MSPs and we’ve been developing this software for more than 10 years. It’s the glue behind the scenes for systems management. We tie in the back-office financial software, the remote management software, and the PSA software and we do it all through a single pane of glass, which is OpLogic.”