Jim Buie had a long career in Fortune 1000 companies and he could have remained in a corporate position at one of those companies, but he wanted to take a chance on a smaller company, one with a unique value proposition. He found that at telecommunications company Involta, where Buie serves as president and CEO.
“I wanted to be more entrepreneurial, knowing that Involta had something really special to offer enterprises,” Buie said. “It would have been easy to take a cushy, corporate position at a Fortune 1000 company. The risk I took was providing exceptional products, solutions and services in secondary and tertiary markets. Part of that risk came from knowing I would have to build on the talent and opportunities in those markets.”
Involta is a hybrid IT and cloud-forward consulting firm that orchestrates digital transformation for the nation’s leading enterprises. “Involta’s ongoing mission is rooted in partnership,” the company said. “Its personalized approach identifies customers’ requirements while earning their trust to ultimately deliver superior infrastructure and services, operational excellence … keeping with the Involta brand promise.”
The company has been named one of the fastest-growing companies in America by Inc. 5000 for nine consecutive years. Buie joined Involta in 2016 as chief financial officer and steadily took on more responsibility as the company increased profitability and expanded its national footprint. In 2020, Buie was named president of the business, and he restructured the company’s operations to help scale and deliver services to accelerate growth. In 2022, after an investment of funds managed by The Carlyle Group, Buie was selected as the successor to Bruce Lehrman, Involta’s founder and then-CEO.
“Buie’s leadership has enabled the company to further boost its robust suite of managed cybersecurity and hybrid IT solutions across mission-critical verticals, including healthcare, financial services and manufacturing,” the company said. Under Buie’s leadership, Involta was named to Inc.’s inaugural Power Partner Awards. Involta ranked no. 6 in the 2022 Best in KLAS Report for Partial IT with a 92.6 overall performance score. Involta received outstanding performance ratings across several key areas, including 100% of survey respondents asserting that “Involta exceeds expectations” and they “would buy from Involta again.”
Involta was recognized on CRN’s 2022 MSP 500 List. The company also earned a spot on CRN ‘s Tech Elite 250 List for the sixth consecutive year, and it was recognized on CRN’s 2022 Solution Provider 500 list.