Service provider Ensono has acquired Inframon, The deal allows Ensono to extend beyond its existing hybrid IT services, which including Amazon Web Services (AWS), dedicated cloud and mainframe capabilities, COO Brian Klingbeil (pictured above) tells ChannelE2E.
“We’ve constructed ourselves from the ground up to be independent of thought and not pushing any particular agenda,” says Klingbeil. “We wanted to have a platform that allowed us to be independent and do the right thing for the client every single time, but also have a culture that did the same thing.”
Ensono discovered UK-based Inframon when customers began asking for Azure support, which Ensono didn't offer at the time. “We found that Inframon was extremely well respected by Microsoft themselves,” he says. Indeed, Inframon recently won the Microsoft 2017 World Wide Productivity Partner of the Year award, as part of a consortium of other Microsoft partners.
It wasn’t long before the two IT service providers realized they could provide a better customer experience by partnering up. “We thought to ourselves: We love each other quite a lot while dating, so let’s get married,” Klingbeil jokes.
A Match Made In The Cloud
As part of the deal, Inframon’s Sean Roberts and Gordon McKenna will assume the roles of general manager and CTO of Ensono’s Microsoft Cloud Services division, respectively. The two founded Inframon in 2005.
Speaking with ChannelE2E, McKenna says the acquisition proposal came at a good time for the company. “To be honest, we’d done a really good job growing the business to where we were,” he says. “But we knew that we needed to grow bigger and get more purpose, so actually it was really good time for us.”
“For me and Sean it was a logical next step for our business so we could really take it to the next step and grow it beyond where we are now,” he adds.
Meeting Demand
Chicago-based Ensono has already made inroads to the UK, buying Attenda in 2016. So this deal works more toward bringing Inframon’s services to the US. “I think it’s very exciting,” says McKenna. “The chance to expand into the U.S. market is something that Sean and I have thought about long and hard, but it’s a big undertaking without having a structure already.”
“Our focus over the next couple months is in expanding our operation and reach out into the U.S .and servicing all that pent up and need within the existing Ensono customer base,” adds Roberts.
And Klingbeil agrees, saying his company has noticed a lot of demand for Azure services from customers. As for what’s next for the company, those involved say they plan to maintain the brand for a period, operating as an “Inframon-Ensono company.” But beyond that, they appear to be concentrated on bringing Inframon’s services to Ensono’s clients.
“Our main priority is making our clients happy and a lot of them have an immediate need,” says Klingbeil. “That’s where our first focus will be, on bringing these services to bare for the existing base, both in the US and in the UK.”
