In a perfect world, a business merger would be like finding the first two pieces in a jigsaw puzzle. What one piece lacks, the other supplies. And when they’re right next to each other, it makes putting them together even easier.
That’s how the owners of two Glastonbury software firms described their decision to merge their businesses, a move that began earlier this summer but was not formally announced until late last month
The two companies, Secure Design Technologies and Arbot Software, had different specialties. Secure focused on monitoring and maintaining servers, and taking care of the backend of a company’s computer services. Arbot designed software for companies to run their businesses. They didn’t compete, and complemented each other well.
“If we were working with, say, an accounting firm that needed an application development, I’d tell them about our friends down the road,” said Jack Smith, managing member of Secure. “Conversely, if Arbot was working with a client that needed IT help, they’d mention us.”
And when it became difficult to overlook the volume of business they referred to one another, the decision to merge seemed an obvious one, he said. “I think we got serious in the early spring that maybe we should get together,” he said. “We just decided we would be more efficient.”
The merger formally began in July, although the companies did not announce it officially until September. They have have combined under the Arbot Software name and are headquartered on Oak Street in Glastonbury. There are now about 15 employees at the firm’s office. The reformed company has about 80 clients.
Hospital-Focused
Its biggest accounts are in the health care industry, said Seth Baker, senior partner at Arbot.
Among them: MidState Medical Center in Meriden, for which Arbot designed software for hospital officials to monitor hospital financial results. The firm is designing a similar program for Hartford Hospital, where new COO Jeffrey Flaks arrived after leaving MidState Medical back in June. Other clients include the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center and the Eastern Rehabilitation Network.
Arbot’s high degree of specialization means it must take less traditional routes to finding new clients. It’s not a “break-fix business” like a mechanic or plumber that gets inquiries from the yellow pages, Smith said.
“We’re dealing with critical systems, so it’s not like they call us when things have broken,” Smith said. “One of the things we do is basically predict failure. We tell them when their system is about the break.”
Many of their clients come to Arbot as referrals. “Most times, it’s people calling us and asking what we can do for them,” Baker said. “People talk to each other and they know what’s up.”
The company tries to corner the market for small and medium-sized businesses in accounting, insurance and health care. “For us, advertising is difficult so we go after businesses that are best suited for what we do,” Smith said.
The merger, he said, should help boost their presence in those markets.