Harbor IT, a national provider of managed IT services, cybersecurity, AI and cloud solutions for critical and complex environments, today announced its acquisition of ComTech Computer Services (“ComTech”), a managed service provider based in Graham, North Carolina. ComTech is Harbor’s ninth acquisition, extending the company’s Southeast presence and bringing its cyber-focused platform and U.S.-based SOC to a region with deep concentration in life sciences and critical infrastructure, two core practice verticals for the business.
Founded in 1990, ComTech has spent more than 35 years serving businesses across North Carolina. Mike Farlow, ComTech’s CEO, built the business on strength of reputation and word-of-mouth, a testament to the trust ComTech has earned with its clients since inception. Mike, along with his sons Ethan Farlow, COO, and Hunter Farlow, Marketing Director, are staying on with Harbor IT to continue serving their customers and help drive the next phase of growth.
“We’ve been building this business our entire careers and selling was never part of the plan,” said Mike Farlow. “Harbor stood out for their real specialization, both technical and vertical. We’d seen the alternative: a generalist business operating like ten different smaller companies. Harbor actually integrates, which allows the company to unlock its full suite of services across customers and commit to the three practice verticals they focus on.”
ComTech directly strengthens two of Harbor’s three Practices. “The Research Triangle is one of the most important life sciences corridors in the country, which aligns directly to our Healthcare Practice,” said Johnny Lieberman, CEO of Harbor IT. “The broader region is also deep in manufacturing, which maps to the dedicated manufacturing team (Pod) inside our Critical Infrastructure Practice. Customers will be supported by Harbor’s verticalized Pods with teams that know the applications, compliance obligations, and operational environments specific to each end market. In life sciences, that means validated systems, GxP requirements, and controlled change management. In manufacturing, that means OT environments, IT/OT segmentation, and CMMC readiness.”
For Lieberman, the ComTech acquisition reflects a broader thesis about how Harbor builds expertise. “The only way to build real vertical expertise is to have a senior team with battle scars from actually operating and fixing technical problems in these industries,” Lieberman continued. “Harbor’s Practice Leads are former CIOs and operating partners from our target verticals, working directly with customers on IT strategy and architecture. Our service delivery teams know the applications and compliance requirements specific to each end market. That is not something you see in this space.”
“ComTech’s customers are going to get the same quality service they’ve come to expect,” Lieberman said. “On top of that, they get Harbor’s extensive suite of IT and cybersecurity services, delivered by in-house technical talent with deep domain and industry expertise.”
With the addition of ComTech, Harbor IT now employs over 400 people across 40+ states and continues to build a cyber-first managed services platform focused on the hardest-to-serve verticals in the market.
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