Global Convergence Acquires Radiant Networks For 'Enormous Opportunity' In Mobility

Global Convergence Inc. (GCI) has acquired Radiant Networks, an enterprise mobility engineering company, to help its partners capitalize on a massive opportunity it sees for enterprise mobility.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Radiant Networks is a Louisville, Ky.-based mobile technology manufacturer, with particular expertise in design, implementation and services across a variety of industry verticals. In particular, it adds capabilities to the GCI lineup around wireless and mobility assessments, design, consulting, deployment, security and managed services.

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The acquisition is part of a larger strategy by GCI to rapidly expand and bring specialist expertise in-house around mobility, security and the data center, said GCI President of Worldwide Sales and Marketing Simon Short. GCI had been working with Radiant Networks for a few years as a specialist subcontractor, but the time was right to bring the company's engineering and mobility expertise in-house, he said.

Mobility, in particular, is showing high demand with GCI partners, Short said, saying there is an "enormous appetite" for all types of mobility solutions. Because of that, mobility is the fastest-growing area of the GCI business, he said. "There's enormous opportunity."

That growth is driven by demand from enterprises for the increased bandwidth and flexibility that mobility brings over fixed networks, Short said. In addition to that, he said he sees enterprise mobility growth driven by applications, such as location-based applications and asset management applications, which demand implementing leading-edge wireless infrastructures. Finally, Short said he sees significant growth around mobility services, including maintenance and mobility-as-a-service.

While there is a lot of opportunity, Short said many solution providers are wary of the complexity that is involved with infrastructure upgrades and security. According to a recent Kaseya MSP Pricing Survey, only 28 percent of North American solution providers offer enterprise mobility solutions to their customers, the lowest of any category measured by the survey.

That complexity is creating a growing demand from GCI partners for solutions, Short said. The Radiant Networks acquisition is meant to help meet that demand, he said.

"[Partners] can absolutely accelerate their growth by positioning themselves in this market, knowing that we stand behind them with the engineering, design and implementation skills to help them be successful. That is a key part of our positioning -- there is a big opportunity out there that is only going to grow. We're hoping, with our help, that they can take faster steps together," Short said.

While he hadn't evaluated the Radiant Networks acquisition, in particular, Nick Giampietro, partner and director of sales at Babylon, N.Y.-based G-Net Solutions, said he definitely agrees there was a growing opportunity for mobility solutions down the road. He said G-Net Solutions doesn't do a lot of mobility right now, but does do some work around security and networking related to mobility.

"We see a market from where there's holes in the technology that need to be plugged," Giampietro said, saying that G-Net Solutions will be looking to fill that gap in the second half of this year.

Giampietro compared the mobility "wave" to the surfing his company does. He said there is definitely a "wave" coming, and no matter the size there will be plenty of opportunity to surf as it comes closer.

"I don’t know if it’s a small wave or a giant wave just yet. I know that it is certainly on people's minds and it's something that needs to be addressed," Giampietro said.

PUBLISHED FEB. 11, 2015