What Happened to The Purple Guys IT in Kansas City?
If you’ve been searching for Purple Guys IT and ended up somewhere called Ntiva, you’re not losing your mind. The Purple Guys, once one of the most recognizable IT companies in Kansas City, no longer exists as an independent business. The brand is gone, the name has been retired, and the company has been absorbed into a national MSP headquartered in Virginia.
Here’s the full story, what it means for businesses that were Purple Guys clients, and what your options look like now.
Purple Guys IT: A Kansas City Original
That local identity is a big part of why people are still searching for them. When a company becomes synonymous with a service in a city, the name sticks, even after the company itself has changed beyond recognition.3
The First Sale: When the Name Got Bought
The Purple Guys story gets complicated starting in 2020, when a private equity firm called Kian Capital merged two other IT companies, Enterprise Computing Services (ECS) and My IT, into a single platform business. That combined company then went on an acquisition run.
In February 2021, ECS/My IT acquired The Purple Guys. Then they acquired Network Technologies. And then, in a move that tells you everything about how private equity thinks about brand value, the combined company, which now included the original Purple Guys but was primarily made up of ECS and My IT, renamed itself The Purple Guys.
The name had more recognition than the parent company. So the parent company took the name.
For Kansas City businesses, this first transition was relatively seamless. The Purple Guys brand stayed intact, the local team largely continued, and the day-to-day experience for most clients didn’t change dramatically. Many people didn’t even realize ownership had shifted.
The Acquisition Spree
This is where the character of the company began to shift. The Purple Guys was no longer a Kansas City IT company that happened to be expanding. It was a private equity-backed regional platform with Kansas City as one of several markets, being shaped toward an exit.
The Second Sale: Purple Guys Becomes Ntiva
In April 2024, Kian Capital sold The Purple Guys to Ntiva, a Virginia-based managed IT services company backed by a different private equity firm called PSP Capital. The deal created one of the largest pure-play MSPs in the country, with a combined client base of over 2,000 businesses and revenue exceeding $170 million.
For Ntiva, the acquisition was about geographic expansion. Ntiva had historically operated on the East Coast, in Chicago, and in Colorado. The Purple Guys gave them a footprint across the middle of the country where Ntiva had no existing presence.
For Kansas City businesses, this second sale was the one that mattered more. This time, the name didn’t survive.
Ntiva’s own support page now states plainly: “The Purple Guys is now Ntiva.”
The local Kansas City team, originally rooted in Lee’s Summit, continues to serve KC clients under the Ntiva brand. But the Purple Guys name, the independent identity, and any meaningful local ownership are gone. The company answering your support tickets today is a subsidiary of a national platform headquartered in McLean, Virginia.
What This Means If You Were a Purple Guys Client
Is the local team the same? Partially. The Lee’s Summit-based team that served KC clients has largely continued under Ntiva. But the leadership structure, ownership, and strategic priorities are now set by a national organization, not a local one.
Has the service experience changed? That varies by client. Some report a seamless transition. Others have noticed the difference between working with a locally-owned provider versus a support ticket in a national queue. Only you can evaluate whether the service you’re receiving today matches what you were getting before.
Are you locked into a contract? Review your service agreement carefully. If you’re month-to-month or approaching a renewal, this is a natural moment to evaluate your options without penalty.
Do you need to do anything? If your IT is running smoothly and you’re comfortable with Ntiva, you don’t necessarily need to change anything. But if the transition has left you uncertain about your provider relationship, that’s worth taking seriously. IT support is not a service where uncertainty is a comfortable place to be.
Why Private Equity Changes the IT Provider Relationship
This isn’t specific to Purple Guys IT. It’s a pattern that’s playing out across the managed IT services industry right now, and Kansas City businesses are experiencing it firsthand.
When a local IT company gets acquired by private equity, the priorities shift. The goal becomes building a platform that can be sold, which means standardizing services, cutting costs, increasing margins, and growing headcount through acquisitions rather than organic client relationships. The personal, local feel of the original company is often the first thing to erode.
This isn’t a criticism of every company that’s gone through this process. But it is worth understanding as a business owner. The company you signed a contract with three years ago may be structurally unrecognizable today, even if the phone number is the same.
The businesses most likely to feel this are exactly the ones The Purple Guys originally served: small and mid-sized companies in Kansas City that valued a provider who knew their name, understood their business, and picked up the phone.
What Kansas City Businesses Should Look for in an IT Partner
If the Purple Guys IT to Ntiva transition has you reconsidering your IT support situation, here’s what we’d suggest looking for in a replacement:
Local ownership and accountability. There’s a real difference between a locally-owned provider whose reputation is built in your city and a national platform that manages your account from a distance. Local providers have more at stake in every client relationship.
A clear point of contact. Not a support queue. Not a ticket number. A person who knows your business and can be held accountable when something goes wrong.
Transparent pricing. Fixed monthly fees with no surprise charges. Our same-day support guarantee means if we don’t engage with your issue the same day, you get $100. That’s the kind of accountability a national platform isn’t structured to offer.
Proactive management, not reactive break-fix. The best IT relationships prevent problems before they happen. If your provider is only showing up when things are broken, you’re not getting the value you’re paying for.
A provider who will still be your provider next year. In a consolidating market, that means paying attention to who owns your IT company, not just who answers the phone.
Lockbaud: Kansas City’s Locally-Owned Alternative
We specialize in businesses with 5 to 50 employees across professional services industries including accounting, law, and logistics. We offer same-day support, transparent pricing, and IT management built around how your business actually works.
If you’re a former Purple Guys IT client evaluating your options, we’d genuinely welcome the conversation.
Book a free consultation with our team →
And if you’re researching IT companies in Kansas City more broadly, see our comprehensive guide to Kansas City IT companies for a full overview of the local market.
Sources: ChannelE2E, Business Wire, Kian Capital Partners, Ntiva.com, RKCA. All acquisition details are based on publicly available press releases and industry reporting.
