Public-sector software seller Gcom buys data analytics firm Qlarion

Gcom, a provider of software to state and local government agencies, is purchasing the data-analytics and business intelligence firm Qlarion, the companies announced Wednesday in the latest merger in a government technology market that’s undergoing a wave of consolidation.

Under the terms of the deal, Qlarion will become the data arm of Gcom, which has headquarters in Columbia, Maryland, and Albany, New York. Qlarion, based in Reston, Virginia, is Gcom’s fifth acquisition since 2018.

Gcom’s products, which are used by agencies in at least 22 states, include 3Sigma, a web-based application for managing vital records and nutrition assistance systems, and Soteria, which is used by law enforcement organizations to manage criminal history files and use-of-force reports and to transmit incident reports to federal criminal justice databases. The company also has a digital identity platform and a mobile app that gives people who receive parking tickets a choice to pay or appeal their fines.

A press release from the two companies states that the merger “coincides with a seismic shift in the role technology has played to deliver services during a time of unparalleled crisis, precipitated by COVID-19” and that Qlarion’s data services would be a “powerful addition” to Gcom’s offerings.

“Liberating data will enable governments, at all levels, to make more informed decisions, creating better outcomes for their constituents,” Kamal Bherwani, Gcom’s chief executive officer, said in the press release.

Qlarion’s best-known project is likely Virginia’s Framework for Addiction Analysis and Community Transformation, or FAACT, an interagency platform for collecting and sharing data about opioid abuse. Launched in 2018, the FAACT program was expanded last year to help state and local health officials track COVID-19 cases and hospital capacity as the pandemic erupted. Virginia Chief Data Officer Carlos Rivero told StateScoop at the time that the pivot to coronavirus monitoring was able to be implemented quickly because of the FAACT system’s adaptability.

“We were prepared and that preparation allowed us to best support our constituents and communities during a time when it’s needed the most,” he said.

The FAACT program was also recognized last year by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers as a recipient of one of the group’s State IT Recognition Awards.

Gcom’s purchase of Qlarion comes amid a flutter of merger activity in the government technology industry. In March, the Israeli data-analysis firm Zencity bought digital polling firm Elucd. The previous month, Tyler Technologies, which has absorbed more than a dozen other companies since 2015, announced it was buying digital payment provider NIC Inc. in an all-cash deal valued at $2.3 billion. That merger closed April 21.