Polycom Snaps Up Microsoft Lync Services Expert

Polycom (NASDAQ: PLCM) has acquired Sentri, a Westborough, Mass.-based IT services specialist supporting Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) solutions such as Lync, SharePoint and Office 365, in a purchase the video collaboration vendor believes will help grow its services business and tighten its ties to Redmond.

Polycom did not specify the exact purchase price for Sentri, saying only that the transaction, which is expected to close by March 2013, is valued at less than $10 million. Under terms of the deal, Sentri management will report to Navin Mehta, Polycom Global Services senior vice president, and will be expected to work closely with Polycom’s North America partner teams. Sentri will continue to offer services to its existing customer base and, subsequently, to Polycom’s customers after the deal closes.

There are two keys to the agreement, both of which are important to partners: First, Polycom commands a portfolio of some 40 video and voice products that are interoperable with Lync, so Sentri’s expertise in this area is, to say the least, interesting and important. And, second, Polycom expects that Sentri’s professional services profile will expand partners’ unified communication and collaboration (UC&C) capabilities, create new sales opportunities and joint go-to-market strategies.

Polycom’s relationship with Microsoft has grown in the past few years, marked by a 2009 partnership in which the two companies teamed to develop, sell and market unified communications products, and another the following year under which the video developer agreed to construct exclusive operations content for Microsoft’s Lync Server 2010.

“Sentri provides Polycom and our partners with needed advanced services capabilities to consult, design and implement UC&C solutions, and Sentri’s expertise in providing specific Microsoft Lync services is a key skillset as Lync adoption continues to increase,” said Sudhakar Ramakrishna, Polycom Products and Services president.

Polycom will set up a center to showcase Sentri’s skills and expertise to channel partners in North America. The vendor also will roll out new, associated training and certification programs with its channels organization in the second half of this year.

Sentri is Gold certified by Microsoft in communications, messaging, portals and collaboration and desktop technology. The company also is Microsoft Premier Support for LyncTM Partners (PSLP)-certified and has two Microsoft Certified Master engineers. Sentri has been named Microsoft East Region Partner of the Year in 2012, Lync Partner of the Year for New York Metro region in 2011 and Northeast Partner of the Year for three years running.