Evolve IP Acquires Xtium To Further Expand MEvolve IP Acquires Xtium To Further Expand Managed Services Portfolioanaged Services Portfolio

Cloud services provider Evolve IP closed its acquisition of Xtium on Thursday, giving the company a complementary business serving customers in highly regulated industries.

Guy Fardone, Evolve IP's president and founding partner, told CRN that Xtium, based in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, adds to his company's  expertise in specific verticals, particularly health care.

Xtium is the latest in a string of cloud-focused acquisitions for Philadelphia-based Evolve IP, which bought A.P.T., Paragrid, and IPiphany. Evolve IP has acquired eight companies since its founding in 2006 and Great Hill Partners, a private equity firm, took a majority stake in the company in May.

Both Evolve IP and Xtium started their cloud hosting businesses around the same time, Fardone said.

"Our respective teams have literally known each other since day one, with a ton of mutual respect," Fardone told CRN.

Both companies focus on delivering industry expertise in hosting customer applications on compliant infrastructure.

"The two teams coming together really solidifies our approach to the health care and financial space in a really compliant and targeted way," Fardone said.

The current market for cloud services is driving consolidation, he said.

"It's about scale, about growth and delivering what the ecosystem needs," Fardone told CRN, adding customers are demanding specialization by segments, such as health care.

"This makes a lot of sense," Fardone said. "Acquiring a straight IaaS company for us right now makes zero sense. A company that has known customers, expertise, products and a proven track record makes it all better."