ATSG Acquires Vology in ‘Excellent Strategic Initiative’

Channel sources say that longtime solution and technology provider Vology has been sold. ATSG, which has been purchasing services-based companies and MSPs, has been cited as the buyer. Officials from the companies could not be reached for comment by publication time but ATSG was likely attracted by Vology’s robust cloud practice.

Channel Futures will bring readers more information as this story develops.

Clearwater, Florida-based Vology is a managed IT, security and cloud services provider. Its leadership says the company positions organizations for growth by “empowering digital transformation and delivering custom solutions.” The company was last known to be owned by a private equity firm. Currently, Vology is led by Tom York, the company’s CEO and a 31-year veteran of IBM. Walt Walker leads the firm’s office of innovation and cloud practice.

Acquiring a strong cloud-managed service could be driving many MSP acquisitions as of late. In the last two years, the number of deals has increased substantially. For example, companies such as Thrive and Meriplex have acquired other MSPs within months, if not weeks, of each other.

Techaisle’s Anurag Agrawal

“Cloud-managed service is the fastest-growing area, especially cloud assessment, optimization and migration services,” said Anurag Agrawal, founder and chief global analyst at Techaisle. “[The rumored acquisition] is an excellent strategic initiative by ATSG to diversify its security and communications managed services.”

He added it is a play to address the needs of upmarket segments and drive services revenue. ATSG’s focus surrounds the growth and enhancement of its solutions portfolio, which it has accomplished with several acquisitions. Most recently (in 2021), it acquired Optanix, a technology and managed services firm, for an undisclosed amount.

Decades in the Making

This wouldn’t be the first transition for Vology. The firm once sold used IT products when it was Network Liquidators, affectionately called “the used Cisco guys.” In 2006, the company debuted on the Inc. 5000. Yet, executives knew the company had to stay relevant and changed their business model to managed services. They rebranded as Vology. By 2013, the company expanded by acquiring Bayshore Technologies, a Tampa Bay virtualization firm with a small managed services business.

By 2015, Vology had responded to more than 12 million managed services events involving 45,000 endpoints.

Vology’s founder Barry Shevlin told Channel Futures in 2016 that the company grew to such an extent that it was “uniquely positioned to service these midmarket customers… that’s really what we’re designed to go after.”

However, the company was insolvent when private equity firm Capitala Group bought Vology in 2019. Vology officials described the deal as “transformative.”

As for New York-based ATSG, it began over 25 years ago as an enterprise network and systems integrator. It has evolved into a holistic managed IT services company and, according to analysts, it has aggressively transformed over the past decade to a tech-enabled MSP. It features highly secure, multicloud solutions and these are powered by the ATSG automation platform Ai². As Channel Futures reported last year, the acquisition of Optanix is the execution of yet another milestone in ATSG’s strategic growth plan. It moves to establish itself in the growing, high-performing channel partner community, ATSG officials said.