Channel Consolidation: CDI Acquires High Availability In Move To Build Scale, Flexibility

‘Clients are frustrated with smaller competitors who don’t offer all the services they need, and larger competitors who aren’t flexible in helping with digital transformation. It’s a tough time for many integrators to meet market needs and move fast enough,’ CDI President Rich Falcone tells CRN.

New York-based solution provider Computer Design & Integration this week unveiled the acquisition of fellow solution provider High Availability in a move the company said will give customers of both a better way to flexibly scale their IT capabilities.

Computer Design & Integration, or CDI, was ranked No. 78 on the 2020 CRN Solution Provider 500 list. High Availability was ranked No. 194 on the same list.

CDI is acquiring High Availability as a way to meet the increasingly high expectations of customers, said CDI President Rich Falcone.

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“Clients are frustrated with smaller competitors who don’t offer all the services they need, and larger competitors who aren’t flexible in helping with digital transformation,” Falcone told CRN. “It’s a tough time for many integrators to meet market needs and move fast enough. Today, the change of pace in IT is faster than I’ve ever seen.”

Both CDI and High Availability have significant managed services and professional services practices, as well as multiple data centers and NOCs (network operations centers), Falcone said.

“Together, we can work with clients both nationally and globally,” he said.

CDI has been focused on the New York and New Jersey markets and has had little reach in the Philadelphia and King of Prussia, Pa., markets where nearly all of High Availability business is done despite its headquarters being in Eden Prairie, Minn., Falcone said. Past acquisitions, including the July 2020 acquisition of Plan B Technologies and the September 2020 acquisition of P5 Solutions gave it a major expansion in the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia areas, he said.

The recent acquisitions by CDI have helped the solution provider, which now has yearly revenue of over $500 million and just under 400 employees, agility at scale, Falcone said.

“I truly feel the competitive landscape lacks that,” he said. “If you see agility, the company lacks scale. And companies that have scale lack agility.”

CDI took notice of High Availability thanks to customers and vendors who thought the two companies might have a good business and cultural fit, Falcone said. “Good M&A starts with culture,” he said.

Falcone and High Availability CEO Steve Eisenhart met for lunch before the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic stopped face-to-face meetings, but the actual acquisition was done primarily via Cisco WebEx meetings and with the help of DocuSign, Falcone said. “I’ve used DocuSign more in the last year than in my entire life before COVID,” he said.

Looking forward to the new year, Falcone said CDI wants to continue to help customers adapt and succeed in their moves to unify their digital worlds with hybrid clouds.

“Our clients often have different teams focused on digital infrastructures and hybrid clouds,” he said. “With our combined platforms, we want to bring the two sides together to create customer success. And I feel we are in a position to do so.”