Jay Morris

Jay Morris is the founder and chief aggregation officer of MOReCOMM Data Solutions. He called the transaction a good move.

“Avant’s model was originally fewer IT advisory partners with more enterprise clients. Either (a) they realized they can’t scale at a pace they’d like by being purely focused on bigger deals and/or (b), their PE partner informed them of the same.

“I do like the fact that TCG and TBI remain free of [private equity money]. I know many IT advisers agree that being so [free of PE] provides them additional comfort and protection, as they are not pushing tools directed at the client’s desktop. No doubt, sourcing and procurement apps are headed there regardless. What’s not clear yet are the account protection mechanisms each are deploying, standing by, and then backing up with SLAs.

“As I have written about for years, in my humble opinion, PEs could give a hoot about investing money in companies to grow their agent bases and TSB topline revenue. It’s all about getting closer to the customer. That’s where the multiple is. That is the brass ring.

“No matter who, everyone has a price to dance with Big PE. The good news for those taking their time, the offers will continue and the multiple is increasing.

“Finally, all will one day have to fend off Amazon Marketplace, which wants it piece of this $4.4 trillion annual IT spend.”