Corsica Gains Microsoft Security Expertise Via AccountabilIT Acquisition

‘AccountabilIT is focused on a Microsoft relationship and deep Microsoft security expertise and bringing that into the Corsica portfolio was a was a big focus for,’ says Corsica Technologies CEO Brian Harmison.

Corsica Technologies’ acquisition last month of AccountabilIT satisfied two of the main reasons any MSP buys one of its peers.

Brian Harmison, CEO of Greenville, S.C.-based Corsica, told CRN that one reason for the purchase was the MSP’s focus on the Microsoft security environment as a way to significantly enhance its own capabilities.

“AccountabilIT is focused on a Microsoft relationship and deep Microsoft security expertise and bringing that into the Corsica portfolio was a was a big focus for us,” Harmison said.

The second reason was the fact that Scottsdale, Ariz.-based AccountabilIT gives Corsica, ranked No. 434 on CRN’s 2025 Solution Provider 500, its first presence on the West Coast, which is key to dealing with Corsica’s larger customers, Harmison said.

“[AccountabilIT] geographically covers the western half of the United States where Corsica historically has been more in the eastern half,” he said.

There’s a lot more to how Corsica, which is a private equity-backed MSP, is looking to build a scalable, national managed services business. To learn more, read CRN’s conversation with Harmison.

What is Corsica?

Corsica is a managed service provider focused on IT and cybersecurity. Like every MSP, we provide those things, but we actually do it in a little bit [of a] different way, with a real heavy focus on data, data integration and AI. So our approach is a little bit different than most MSPs at our scale. We’re really focused on relationships. And we look to internally leverage more automated managed services at our size and scale and do that through an integrated operating model. So our focus for the last couple of years is adding on IT and technology capabilities that most MSPs tend to not have as part of their portfolio.

When you say, ‘at your size and scale,’ what do you mean?

For this acquisition, we’re not releasing financials, but we have over 250 customers today. Our scale is really focused around providing a set of integrated managed services to those customers,and in a way that is very customer-connected. Corsica now has about 100 employees. With the addition of AIT, we’ll actually be over 300.

Talk about AIT. What is AccountabilIT?

AccountabilIT, or AIT for short, which is a little bit easier to say. AccountabilIT has a very similar business to Corsica but with a couple of really important additions. In terms of size, number of customers, we’re very similar. AccountabilIT is focused on a Microsoft relationship and deep Microsoft security expertise and bringing that into the Corsica portfolio was a was a big focus for us. AccountabilIT also has a very similar model in the way that they operate, and it geographically covers the western half of the United States where Corsica historically has been more in the eastern half.

You said that AccountabilIT brings Microsoft security expertise. Is that something Corsica did not really have before?

Corsica historically has been a Microsoft partner, but on the security side we did not have a heavy focus on Sentinel XDR and the SIEM [security information and event management] that Microsoft has. AccountabilIT is also a member of MISA, which is the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association, which is a pretty exclusive group of businesses invested in the Microsoft ecosystem around security.

Because AccountabilIT is a member of MISA, does that automatically make Corsica a member?

It does. So as we bring these organizations together, that’s one of the advantages that Corsica gains.

Has Corsica been an acquisitive company?

Corsica has done a half-dozen acquisitions over the last five years, and those have been focused in a couple different areas. Initially, it was around the platform build in the eastern part of the United States, so east of the Mississippi. And it brought together similar-size businesses focused on, we’ll call it, ‘the non-NFL type cities’. And then over the last couple of years, we have done some add-ons related to data integration, both EDI application-to-application data integration and AI. That’s enabled us to look for what was our next step, a chance to expand geography and move into some of the larger markets. We’re seeing the shift, which I think many MSPs are seeing, that locale does not necessarily necessitate which customers you’re able to work with. Most of the businesses we work with are also regional or national businesses and are expanding their footprint as well, and so we saw that as an opportunity for the next round of growth for us to not just be fueled through acquisition, but also through organic growth.

Does Corsica have private equity behind it?

We do. We’ve been owned by the same private equity group since 2016. We are considered a platform MSP. That is the intention.

How much did you pay for AIT?

We aren’t going to disclose the details of that deal. AIT was a profitable organization.

Why did AIT decide to be acquired? Were they out looking to be acquired?

We saw an opportunity, and they did too, given our size, cultural alignment and the opportunity to really leverage the strengths of both organizations. And the larger geography made this a really natural fit. Corsica’s focus has been driving scale through automation, through AI, and then keeping that really personal touch to their relationships. That’s an area we felt we could bring to the AIT business. The expertise around security and especially the Microsoft ecosystem, we see more and more businesses adopting that. So it’s really the marriage of those capabilities together: larger geography and a much larger customer base.

How did Corsica get interested in AIT?

We’ve known about them for quite a while and have run into them in several circles. We found an opportunity to work together on some deals last fall, and that started the conversations.

Early in our conversation, you talked a little bit about bringing AI into security. How far has Corsica come in terms of doing that?

It’s bringing AI into more than just security. As I look at the MSP space, customer service and the ability to respond quickly and accurately are two of the largest challenges, especially as we see larger competitors in the space grow. Where we see them struggle the most is around getting the right response, the right technology and the right data into people’s hands. That’s where our focus on AI has been, leveraging AI tools that are off the shelf and integrating those into our ecosystem. But it’s more around having a smarter workflow within the business that allows our touch with each of the individuals that we serve to be more meaningful, have the right data at the right time, and ultimately lead to faster resolution time. Not just of cyber incidents, certainly, that’s always been really important, but to enhance the rest of the customer experience

as well.

So now you have acquired not only increased Microsoft security expertise, but also a West Coast presence. What’s next? Do you expect to do more acquisitions, and what would your focus be?

We always have a soft spot in our heart for expanding the organization through acquisitions. That’ll be more opportunistic than our core strategy. Our core strategy is, as I mentioned earlier, really around focused, organic growth, and we’ve already had great success there. Corsica feels that we have a sales and marketing engine that speaks to the needs of the midmarket and larger SMB space for a business that’s still focused on relationships but can deliver the capabilities of a much larger MSP.

What kind of investments are you looking to make to build that organic growth?

Certainly on the sales and marketing side, but we also plan to heavily leverage our existing customer base in terms of referrals. But the biggest area for us will be around the thought leadership within the market.