Harbor IT, a national provider of managed IT services, cybersecurity, AI, and cloud solutions, announced the acquisition of ComTech Computer Services, a managed service provider based in Graham, North Carolina.
The acquisition marks Harbor IT’s ninth acquisition and expands the company’s presence in the Southeast while strengthening its cyber-focused platform and U.S.-based SOC capabilities in regions with strong concentrations of life sciences and critical infrastructure organizations.
Founded in 1990, ComTech has served businesses across North Carolina for more than 35 years. ComTech CEO Mike Farlow, along with COO Ethan Farlow and Marketing Director Hunter Farlow, will remain with the business following the acquisition to support customers and help drive future growth.
Harbor IT said the acquisition strengthens two of its three primary practice areas, Healthcare and Critical Infrastructure. The company noted that North Carolina’s Research Triangle region is a major life sciences hub, while the broader region also has a strong manufacturing presence.
The company said customers will be supported through Harbor’s industry-specific Pods, which are designed to provide expertise tailored to sector-specific operational environments, compliance requirements, and applications. Harbor highlighted areas such as validated systems, GxP requirements, controlled change management, OT environments, IT/OT segmentation, and CMMC readiness as examples of specialized support capabilities.
Harbor IT CEO Johnny Lieberman said the company’s approach centers on building industry expertise through leadership teams with operational experience in the sectors they serve. He added that Harbor’s Practice Leads include former CIOs and operating partners who work directly with customers on IT strategy and architecture.
With the addition of ComTech, Harbor IT said it now employs more than 400 people across over 40 states as it continues expanding its cyber-first managed services platform focused on compliance-driven and complex industries.
KEY QUOTES:
“We’ve been building this business our entire careers and selling was never part of the plan. 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.”
Mike Farlow, CEO, ComTech Computer Services
“The Research Triangle is one of the most important life sciences corridors in the country, which aligns directly to our Healthcare Practice. 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.”
“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. 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. 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.”
Johnny Lieberman, CEO, Harbor IT
