In this episode of Channel Insider: Partner POV, host Katie Bavoso sits down once again with returning guest Terry Richardson, CRO of Blue Mantis , to unpack the company’s rapid expansion through strategic MSP acquisitions and its evolving business strategy. Richardson explains what impact he believes economic uncertainty in the U.S. will have on M&A through the rest of the year and into 2026

Richardson also shares insights into Blue Mantis' recent flurry of acquisitions in Q1 2025, and how the company is enhancing its cybersecurity, networking, and telecommunications offerings amid a distributed workforce - especially in some key "underserved markets."

🔹 Timestamps & Key Topics:

00:00 – Intro: Blue Mantis’ explosive M&A momentum

01:33 – Recent acquisitions: Why Vermont MSPs?

02:20 – M&A strategy post-recapitalization

03:36 – Integration playbook: Tech stack & onboarding success

06:09 – Investments in networking & telecom: What’s driving it?

08:30 – What customers can expect from Blue Mantis

10:45 – Serving underserved markets in New England & New York

12:30 – Industry verticals showing growth (finance, healthcare, manufacturing)

13:41 – Is Blue Mantis a platform MSP?

16:35 – Advice for MSPs preparing for acquisition

19:00 – How Blue Mantis chooses who and when to acquire

21:35 – Top tech trends for 2025: Zero trust, hybrid cloud, AI, and resilience

25:00 – Long-term impact of COVID-19 on IT strategy

27:35 – Leading in times of uncertainty: Tariffs, market fluctuation, and customer trust 3

0:14 – M&A trends in the channel: What’s next?

31:48 – Cloud success stories: Helping clients optimize cloud spend

35:18 – Pitfalls of ungoverned cloud deployments

36:35 – What’s next for Blue Mantis in 2025?

🎧 Available on YouTube, ChannelInsider.com, and podcast platforms. 👍 Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and follow for more expert insights from the IT channel world.

#MSP #ChannelInsider #BlueMantis #MergersAndAcquisitions #Cybersecurity #Telecom #CloudSpend #PartnerPOV #TechStrategy #KatieBavoso #PlatformMSP #ITChannel #Networking #ManagedServices #digitaltransformation

A new episode of Channel Insider: Partner POV is released every other Thursday.

Watch the interview on YouTube @ChannelInsider_NewsAndTrends

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Episodes of Channel Insider: Partner POV are hosted and produced by Katie Bavoso with help from Dana Sell, and edited by Ayen Alvarez and Katie Bavoso.

The cover art for Channel Insider: Partner POV was created by Aubri Ziegler. The opening and closing animations were made by Mackenzie Burke. The thumbnails for each episode are made by Brandon Cornwell.

Channel Insider: Partner POV is an asset of Channel Insider, which is a brand under TechnologyAdvice.