SkySwitch fills a gap in BCM One's product portfolio.

James Anderson, Senior News Editor

January 5, 2021

3 Min Read
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BCM One is giving channel partners a white-label UCaaS option thanks to a new acquisition.

The New York-based firm is buying SkySwitch, a self-styled “fully managed, white-label UCaaS platform.” The deal bolsters BCM One’s portfolio by bringing in SkySwitch’s NetSapiens-based UCaaS offering.

BCM One already offered a UCaaS solution thanks to its 2019 acquisition of Arena One. However, Arena One didn’t build its solution expressly for private labelling. Mark Amick, group president of BCM One’s NextGen Communications, said some MSPs had articulated a desire to own more of the process.

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BCM One’s Mark Amick

“While we do offer some ‘white labels,’ we’re not truly a white label. We still own all the billing; we still own all the regulatory relationships,” Amick said.

And SkySwitch fits the bill, helping channel partners become “true business owners.”

“For those MSPs that want to grow their business and grow their revenues, it’s a great solution. And it allows us to go back to our channel partners and say, ‘We really have a solution now that allows you to deliver UCaaS as your product. You’re providing the billing, you’re setting the billing rates and you’re dealing with all the taxation,” Amick said.

BCM One channel partners will target SMB and midmarket customers with the SkySwitch offering.

Growth Initiative

Private equity firm Thompson Capital Partners recapitalized BCM One in 2019 and kicked off a streak of acquisitions.

Earlier this year, BCM One announced the purchase of nexVortex, which gave it a new SIP trunking solution geared toward medium and large businesses. BCM One offers SIP trunking to SMBs through the offerings of SIP.US/SIPTrunk, which it acquired two years ago.

Keep up with the latest channel-impacting mergers and acquisitions in our M&A roundup.

Amick praised SkySwitch’s partner-driven business model and technological expertise. He also described SkySwitch as a “perfect fit” with the rest of the BCM One subsidiaries.

“It doesn’t conflict with anything we’re doing,” Amick said. “So we don’t have to worry about battling heads within the company.”

What to Expect

SkySwitch will retain its name for the time being and keep its office in Tampa Bay, Florida. BCM One is also not eliminating any positions, according to Amick. He said the SkySwitch senior management team will remain and report to Amick and BCM One CEO Geoff Bloss.

Amick said BCM One is looking for easy areas where it can connect SkySwitch and the other subsidiaries. For example, BCM One will want to pick a single platform for Microsoft Teams integration, as well as a single ticketing platform. BCM One and SkySwitch will also look to consolidate their master services agreements for shared carriers and eventually consolidate their data center presences. Amick said network integration will take longer because SkySwitch uses a different platform than any other BCM One subsidiary.

Amick said the purchase demonstrates BCM One’s commitment to the channel.

“We love the channel, and we want to continue to expand in the channel, and I think this acquisition shows that our focus is a channel model,” he said.

He also noted the benefits that partners on the SkySwitch side will enjoy.

“For those existing SkySwitch partners, they’ll get access to solutions they’ve never had before because of the broader BCM One product portfolio,” he said.

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SkySwitch’s Jayson Jones

SkySwitch vice president of sales Jayson Jones described his company’s strategy as “a perfect fit for BCM One’s strong channel base.”

“We’re excited to join the BCM One family and add our streamlined white-label UCaaS platform to the company’s robust product portfolio,” Jones said.

BCM One on the same day announced the purchase of LincLogix, a Midwest data and voice solutions provider. The companies have worked together for more than 15 years.

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About the Author(s)

James Anderson

Senior News Editor, Channel Futures

James Anderson is a news editor for Channel Futures. He interned with Informa while working toward his degree in journalism from Arizona State University, then joined the company after graduating. He writes about SD-WAN, telecom and cablecos, technology services distributors and carriers. He has served as a moderator for multiple panels at Channel Partners events.

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