Presidio Launches Cloud Business Unit After Buying Cisco, VMware Consulting Shop

Presidio purchased a small cloud consulting, engineering and integration firm to help strengthen its automation, orchestration and brokerage capabilities around Cisco Systems, VMware and Microsoft.

The New York-based company, No. 21 on the 2015 CRN Solution Provider 500, said its acquisition of Sequoia Worldwide, an 11- to 50-person firm based in Campbell, Calif., will boost initiatives around private and hybrid cloud. Sequoia will become the cloud business unit for Presidio and operate under the name Sequoia Cloud Solutions, a Presidio company.

"The acquisition of Sequoia continues our leadership in advising, architecting and implementing solutions that enable our customers to derive maximum value from their cloud investments," Bob Cagnazzi, Presidio CEO, said in a statement. This cloud investment comes just a month after Presidio sold off its refurbished hardware reselling subsidiary to a private equity firm.

[RELATED: Presidio Sells Refurbished Hardware Reseller Subsidiary To Private Equity Firm]

Terms of the deal, which already has closed, were not disclosed. Neither Presidio nor Sequoia were immediately available for further comment.

Adding Sequoia will help Presidio, a 2,400-person firm with 85 U.S .offices, accelerate time to market and create a competitive advantage for its customers around cloud services, according to Steve Hanney, co-founder and managing partner of Sequoia.

"Combining industry-leading cloud expertise with the industry's leading provider of IT solutions and services is a tremendous opportunity for our clients to realize game-changing value and accelerate their deployments," Doug Kryzan, Sequoia's other co-founder and managing partner, said in a statement.

Sequoia was founded in 2010 and focuses exclusively on consulting, integration and services around private and hybrid cloud solutions. The company excels at advising customers on how to best leverage public and private cloud resources to develop a hybrid model that can deliver scalable, secure and high-performing service, according to Cagnazzi.

The company is a Cisco Cloud Builder Partner and Learning Business Partner, a VMware Professional Partner, a Microsoft Small Business Specialist and an Expert Alliance Partner of the Technology Services Industry Association. The company also incorporates Cloud Cruiser's cost management into its consulting and implementation services to help companies get the most out of their cloud investment.

Consulting services offered by Sequoia include cloud infrastructure assessments, process implementation and professional services workshops, while engineering services provided by the company include self-service portal development, automation process design and orchestration customization.

Sequoia's integration services focus on Cisco, VMware and OpenStack and include architecture and design services, analysis and strategy services and implementation services for solution deployment. And the company's marketing services include channel strategy and go-to-market programs, collateral creation and delivery and competitive analysis and business strategy.

The Sequoia deal continues Presidio's efforts to refocus its business, which began last month when the company sold refurbished hardware reseller Atlantix Global Systems, No. 155 on the Solution Provider 500, to Millstein & Co. Cagnazzi said at the time that Atlantix's business – which was acquired in March 2007 – was no longer core to Presidio.

Global alternative investment power Apollo Global Management acquired Presidio from American Securities in December 2014 after reports emerged about a possible Presidio sale or IPO. Cagnazzi told CRN at the time that Presidio's clients were demanding greater investment in capital-intensive solutions such as cloud and managed services.

PUBLISHED NOV. 30, 2015