T2 Computing Acquired by Axispoint, Partners With MPE for M&E Rental Business

It has been a busy week for T2 Computing, the business-solutions arm of the recently shuttered Tekserve. The provider of computing, storage, networking, and media hardware and software has been acquired, along with the Tekserve name, by software provider Axispoint and has also partnered with postproduction-rental house MPE to provide rental gear to the media and entertainment (M&E) marketplace.

The T2 Computing acquisition provides a boost to Axispoint’s hardware and engineering expertise, while Axispoint provides T2 with software- and application-development capabilities. Under the deal, Jerry Gepner will stay on as T2 Computing CEO, and the 75-person T2 operation, which was spun off as a standalone unit in 2014, will continue working in its own Manhattan location. In addition, T2 and Axispoint will be billed as separate brands for at least the next six months, Axispoint CEO Dan DiSano told CRN.

“There are some deals that happen because they can, and there are some deals that happen because they should. This falls into the latter case,” says Gepner. “Axispoint is a well-established software-development and consulting firm in the media space, while we are an established product reseller with a strong professional-services group designed to support those products and design solutions.

“I think, in large part,” he continues, “the media and entertainment sector has been forced to piece solutions together from multiple providers. What we have just created is a complete full-service product and services company that, under one roof, can take you from beginning to end, including long-term support for both the hardware and the software.”

Meanwhile, the T2-MPE partnership creates a one-stop shop for M&E customers looking for broadcast and postproduction solutions. The two companies will offer a full stable of Apple computers/tablets and Avid editing hardware, as well as creative-support technology.

“MPE has [equipment] that, frankly, we would have loved to have been able to offer to our customers that we just never had in our rental stock,” says Gepner. “And we had equipment that MPE had wanted to offer but never had the inventory. So what we did is combine all of our Apple products with all of MPE’s broadcast equipment and services. So we’re now able to go to market with everything ranging from renting one laptop up to 500 iPads to 100 iMacs to Avid editing systems to finishing systems — the whole gamut.”

Axispoint, T2 Computing Unite Software, Hardware Solutions
The T2 Computing deal, the first acquisition in Axispoint’s 15-year history, creates a company with annual sales of between $75 million and $100 million and more than 100 employees, including 30 in sales.

Gepner says the two companies became familiar with one another when working on a major media-asset–management (MAM) project for a broadcast network just over a year ago.

“AT T2, we do not have MAM developers in-house, so we brought in Axispoint because they have expertise in that area, and everybody got along very well,” says Gepner. “That started the relationship, and, when the opportunity came and the ownership of T2 and Tekserve decided that they would like to move on, Axispoint was a natural choice.”

Gepner sees similar MAM projects in the M&E space as a prime target for the newly formed entity.

T2 Computing, MPE To Create One-Stop Shop
The T2 Computing-MPE partnership had been discussed for years, according to Gepner, and creates natural synergies, given the two companies’ complementary rental inventories.

T2 Computing will offer system design and product sales, coupled with factory-authorized Apple repair and custom-configured Apple products and postproduction systems for rental and temporary peak-demand needs. MPE will provide all fulfillment services, bringing its logistics and 24/7 support services to customers of both companies.

“We are very excited to be partnering with T2,” says MPE President Neal Pilzer. “T2 brings a stellar reputation to the MPE family. Combining MPE’s expertise in providing postproduction equipment and solutions for film and TV with T2’s depth in providing computing, storage, and IT solutions strengthens both of our abilities to service the full gamut of our clients’ present and future needs.”