Fulcrum IT Partners Executive on SOC, M&A, other Channel Trends

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Earlier in August, international IT solutions provider Fulcrum IT Partners announced it was acquiring Fortress and adding its capabilities, including its 24/7 U.S.-based SOC offering, into the Fulcrum portfolio of products and services. The acquisition is the latest in a series of purchases for the massive services provider, which has acquired several MSPs over the past several years to form one company with a variety of niche expertise and locations in the US and Canada as well as throughout Europe.

Kyle Lanzinger, President and Head of M&A, U.S. and Canada at Fulcrum, shared more about the Fortress acquisition and discussed his perspective on the trends shaping Fulcrum and the channel more broadly.

SOC, other security priorities top of mind

The Fortress acquisition “filled a gap” in Fulcrum’s offerings, namely the capability to offer a fully managed SOC alongside its strong IT managed service desk, according to Lanzinger. Still, the acquisition was focused on more than simply adding to the linecard.

“We didn’t want to acquire any SOC just to say we did,” said Lanzinger, noting that the integration of Fortress into Fulcrum will add to a “full suite” of solutions.

Fulcrum’s wide array of offerings is in many cases developed by smaller MSPs who specialized in a niche technology and were then acquired by Fulcrum. The Fortress integration will follow this pattern, and its technology and expertise will be available to all Fulcrum clients. For Lanzinger, this model allows Fulcrum’s customers to tap into a variety of technology and expert providers, all to best answer the core question of what their business needs to be successful.

Fulcrum plans to complement security offerings with AI and data expertise to “deliver powerful, data-driven cybersecurity and IT support solutions to customers globally,” according to the press release issued announcing the acquisition.

“Our clients need to operate their business with little to no disruption,” Lanzinger said. “If they win, we win, and that’s always the goal.”

M&A continues to reshape the channel

Fulcrum might be one of the largest MSPs, but their approach to growth through M&A activity is increasingly common for providers and vendors in the channel. Lanzinger explained he sees acquisitions as a way to gain expertise without “ruining” the existing relationships a provider has cultivated with their customers.

“We are at the end of the day a collection of highly talented people with very deep expertise,” Lanzinger said.

“We hear a lot from the customers of businesses we acquire, ‘just please don’t mess up this company’,” Lanzinger added. He also said he hopes M&A throughout the channel will not affect customer experience.

Not all providers in the channel are excited about the wave of M&A activity sweeping through and, in some cases, completely changing partnerships and capabilities, but Lanzinger said he thinks the activity will only encourage continued growth and opportunity.

He said he feels MSPs will always innovate and create the types of business they want to see, so he expects new organizations to pop up even as existing providers are continuously bought up and formed into larger operations.

GenAI fuels opportunity, but costs and ROI need to be addressed with clients

Of course, no conversation about technology trends would be complete without a mention of GenAI. Now, though, more businesses are beginning to question the costs associated with adopting and implementing AI tools, and are, in some cases, starting to doubt the potential for ROI from utilizing GenAI tools. Lanzinger said he views that as an opportunity to guide clients through solving business challenges.

“When I first acquired a company, I didn’t buy the biggest one- I started small. AI projects should start small, too, with pragmatic AI use cases,” Lanzinger said. “Find something with attainable ROI, a quick win that can show success and isn’t that difficult to implement.”

It’s also important to note that while GenAI is a recent technological development, artificial intelligence in other forms has existed for a long time. Lanzinger recommended MSPs identify ways their clients are already using AI and take those cases as inspiration for layering in GenAI and developing practical applications of the technology.

Looking forward, Lanzinger is committed to continuing to explore M&A possibilities for Fulcrum when they make sense for the business and, more importantly, their clients.

In an age of higher demand for crucial security and threat monitoring, some enterprises are turning to providers offering vCISO programs.