Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/813438
www.postmagazine.com 36 POST APRIL 2017 BUSINESS 2 Computing, Inc. (www.t2com puting.com) kicked off 2017 in high gear. First, the comput- ing, storage, networking and support provider announced earlier this year a key partnership with Motion Picture Enterprises, Inc. (MPE) (www.mpenyc. com), a New York-based supplier of post production rental equipment and editing suites, that would extend T2's services and allow the company to pro- vide rental equipment to the media, en- tertainment and content creation mar- kets. In a subsequent announcement, software-development and consulting company Axispoint (www.axispoint. com) announced its acquisition of T2. Together, the two New York-based com- panies, each with their own areas of ex- pertise, form a combined business that now has a strong foothold in a number of vertical markets, including media and entertainment (M&E). The acquisition is, in part, intended to address the M&E industry's pivotal need to eliminate the challenges of piecing together IT solutions from multiple pro- viders. This acquisition, in concurrence with T2's partnership with MPE, provides a single solution and an increased ser- vice line for the post market. "In large part, the industry has been forced to piece together total solutions from multiple providers," says Jerry Gepner, CEO of T2 Computing. "For the media & entertainment industry, we think our value proposition is really pow- erful — eliminating the pain point of a piecemeal approach and substituting it with a solution that supports project in- ception to completion." "As media firms in broadcast, film and music need help managing digital as- sets, customizing software and building workflows, they're increasingly turning to IT companies with the expertise in both infrastructure and applications," adds Dan DiSano, CEO and president of Axispoint. "With the combined offerings of Axispoint and T2 Computing, we now have the ability to increase our service line in this client space and create the customized, seamless solutions that these companies need." Here, in an exclusive interview with Post, industry veterans Gepner and DiSano discuss the recent acquisition, T2's partnership with MPE and what it all means for the post community. Why does this acquisition make sense for both companies? Dan DiSano: "We had had the privilege of partnering with T2 Computing and Jerry for the last few years, so we had done some great work together for broadcast and media companies, so that acted as a catalyst. Also, our number one vertical in both of our markets, in both of our ser- vice offerings, is media & entertainment. So, we both focus on that space but in different ways. Axispoint is an application development firm. We build software for clients, we do workflow, and what I mean by software, we build enterprise software and mobile and Web applications. And you know what T2 Computing does, in terms of infrastructure, engineering and their prowess in production and post production media, so it was a natural fit. Together, we also gained scale. We're now a strong mid-market company, but we can really have a seat at any table. And we can now offer a full end-to-end solution." Jerry Gepner: "One of the things that's sort of endemic to the vertical is it's populated by a wide range of niche specialty firms, generally good firms, but ones that tend to have a portion of the solution that typically are not full-solu- tion providers. A lot of people try to say that they are, but it's rare that you find one. The acquisition by Axispoint allows the combined company to really walk- the-walk and not just talk-the-talk. If you look at our offerings, the mar- ketplace now, in the media and enter- tainment space, it's sales architecture, systems architecture and engineering on the front end. The design of hardware sys- tems, the procurement and installation of very sophisticated hardware, whether Mac or PC-based, Avid or Adobe, it doesn't really matter to T2. What Axispoint brings to the solution is, really the most critical part and the part where a lot of media companies struggle, is everybody recog- nizes that they want to take advantage of the efficiencies of sophisticated workflows with a MAM or a DAM or both, but the problem is, these are not one-size-fits-all products. They are not shrink-wrapped type of solutions. They require custom- ization and sometimes that customiza- tion is in the form of custom software or customization of product, but for media and entertainment operation to realize the efficiencies that today's technologies can bring them, you need to be able to provide the whole solution." What do you feel your strengths are now in what you can provide customers? Gepner: "I think T2 brings tremendous expertise in workflow solutions, storage and network infrastructure optimized for media. What Axispoint brings is a huge familiarity with the media & entertain- ment marketplace. Their customer list is amazing when it comes to that, so they know the marketplace, they understand the demands of the marketplace and the cultures. Coupling that with the software development expertise, they have a methodology that allows them to work at the pace that M&E customers require. "If you start on the hardware side, AXISPOINT AND T2 MERGE T BY LINDA ROMANELLO Gepner COMBINED EXPERTISE, ALONG WITH T2'S MPE PART- NERSHIP, FOCUS ON POST AND M&E MARKET