AppDirect Announces Upcoming Acquisition of IT Spend Management Leader vCom Solutions

SAN FRANCISCO –Nov 12, 2024 – AppDirect, the world's leading B2B subscription commerce platform, today announced its intent to acquire vCom Solutions, an IT lifecycle management software and managed services company. With this acquisition, AppDirect’s advisors and their end customers will gain access to vCom’s award-winning AI-powered software platform, vManager®, vCom’s comprehensive suite of IT spend managed services, while also gaining access to vCom’s robust Buyers’ Club, QuantumShift.

By acquiring vCom, AppDirect will add technology capabilities that will further its global mission to become the single platform for buying, selling, and managing recurring technology services through advisors—a growing need as technology becomes more complex and businesses need to easily access and manage it all. AppDirect previously acquired marketplace platform Builtfirst and managed services provider ADCom Solutions’ Network Operations Center and VEEUE platform to empower its advisor community.

“By augmenting AppDirect’s current technology management functionality with the depth and breadth of the vManager platform, AppDirect will be able to empower our advisors to offer the world’s most comprehensive IT procurement and management platform to organizations of all sizes,” said Nicolas Desmarais, AppDirect’s Chairman and CEO. “vCom’s offering will also allow AppDirect advisors to provide additional value to their end businesses, elevating their trusted consultancy and increasing revenue.”

Delivering software and managed services to organizations for over two decades, vCom supports IT and finance organizations through the lifecycle management of their IT environment, from procurement to payment. The vManager platform helps Advisors and their end customers control IT spend and day-to-day management functions. From the planning and procurement of assets through a customizable marketplace; and the operational management of inventory, orders and support tickets; to managing the processing, payment, cost allocation, and optimization of technology invoices; businesses can gain unprecedented visibility, time savings, and shareholder value.

“We are so excited about the potential of this acquisition. We have been working closely with the vCom team, and our vision around the future potential of our two organizations joining is completely aligned,” said Andy Ellerhorst, VP of corporate development and Chief of staff at AppDirect. “Adding the vManager platform to AppDirect’s procurement platform will further extend the value that we can offer advisors through a single platform.”

With this acquisition, AppDirect will continue to differentiate themselves with the industry’s largest and most diverse catalog of technology sold through our ecosystem of technology advisors. By integrating the offering from vCom’s wholesale buyers’ club, QuantumShift, AppDirect will be able to provide a turn-key solution for aggregation, consolidation, normalization and seamless integration of network, mobile, hardware, cloud, SaaS, collaboration and energy solutions. This will provide new revenue levers for AppDirect advisors and additional diversity in the product portfolio.

“This strategic union will deliver on the original visions of both our companies: to help businesses find, buy and manage all their recurring IT through trusted advisors. It will enable us to quickly and extensively expand our value creation, thanks to AppDirect’s far-reaching distribution and community of seasoned technology advisors,” said Gary Storm, CEO at vCom. “AppDirect has a powerful ecosystem, and the vCom team will complement and accelerate all that AppDirect does.”

vCom’s partners will become a critical part of the AppDirect partner ecosystem under this acquisition. They will have access to all of the technology solutions supported through the AppDirect catalog, expanding the solutions they sell.

Similarly, this acquisition will not impact vCom’s customers, who will continue to receive the same service and support they’ve come to appreciate from vCom as a trusted technology partner and gain the benefits of AppDirect’s robust catalog and solution set in SaaS and Cloud.

The acquisition of vCom is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory consents. Prior to closing of the transaction, vCom will spin out its direct sales team and branded franchise advisors to become an exclusive partner to AppDirect, enabling it to expand into new markets and areas of differentiation.

About AppDirect

AppDirect is a B2B subscription commerce platform company that brings together technology providers, advisors and businesses to simplify how they buy, sell and manage technology. More than 1,000 providers, 10,000 advisors and 5 million subscribers rely on the AppDirect ecosystem of subscription marketplaces to power their innovation, growth and success.

About vCom Solutions

vCom is a leading technology spend and lifecycle management provider for midsize companies. Leveraging over two decades of expertise, vCom has the best and most complete solution that makes it possible for IT and Finance teams to source, manage and pay for their technology in one place. This empowers them with better visibility, enables them to regain their time and drive shareholder value, allowing them to achieve more by doing and spending less.