It’s been a record setting year for Interwork Technologies, a North American cyber security distributor, and Joe Graci, Interwork President and GM, sees another strong performance in the cards for 2019. In an industry that has seen massive consolidation over the past decade, Interwork is thriving as one of the few independent boutiques left in the market.
Why did they make the decision to go it alone? According to Graci, “There was a determination to maintain our culture of excellence, providing the high touch service model to our customers. And we were concerned that this would change if we were acquired by a large distributor.”
So the company went a different route. They wanted to expand and had ideas about how to do that, but they needed capital, and that’s where FirePower’s Private Equity division came in. FirePower acquired Interwork in April 2018, providing management with capital to fuel the company’s growth, and access to new resources and insights. Since April of last year, Interwork has launched two new offerings for their customers – cyber security certification training and professional services — and has a growing number of new partnerships that they have brought to the market. Business is booming.
Joe Graci is pleased with the route the company has taken. “Anthony [the head of FirePower’s Private Equity division] has been very supportive of investing in Interwork’s growth. There’s a lot of collaboration in terms of strategy and business direction. Anthony provides us with insights and input from a business model perspective, and that’s made a difference in our strategic thinking process.”
And what’s going to drive growth in the coming year? “We call it the ‘Power Up’ factor,” says Graci. At this point, we’ve got the transition behind us, we’ve set up a number of things structurally, and now we’re looking at how we leverage that to power up our business.”
