If you’re wondering just who are the 10 biggest managed service providers in Denver, it may be tough to pin down a definitive answer. However by most accounts, number of employees or annual revenue may be reasonably good approximators.

In compiling this list, we looked at the number of employees on LinkedIn both at company headquarters, as well as located in Denver.

Update:  We've made a glaring ommission!  Live Consulting is also one of the premier MSPs in the Denver area.  Operating since 2004, they are an Inc 5000 Fastest Growing Companies for 2015 and 2016, and currently have nearly 50 IT staff in Denver.

Since the managed service provider business model is a rather broad category, for the purpose of this ranking we extended the definition to MSP-ish types of companies that may self-classify as integrators, IT consulting firms, or VARs  -- as well as cyber-security solution providers, accounting firms, and management consulting firms.

1. 1. Optiv -- Optiv was created through the merger of Accuvant and FishNet security and self-describes as North America’s “largest holistic pure-play cyber security solutions provider.” With 1,273 employees companywide on LinkedIn and 177 in Denver, Optiv tops our list.
   
   
2. 2. EKS&H -- While it may self-classify itself in the accounting industry, EKS&H LLLP offers both business consulting and technology consulting. With 589 employees companywide on LinkedIn and 514 in Denver, EKS&H’s 60 partners and 75+ consulting professionals make the firm quite influential in how clients in the metro Denver area implement IT.
   
   
3. 3. Lewan Technology -- With 384 employees companywide on LinkedIn, Lewan Technology like EKS&H LLLP is very geographically concentrated: 307 of those employees are in Denver, 26 are in Colorado Springs, and 13 are in Fort Collins. And while Lewan Technology does self-classify managed services as one of its core offerings, just like Optiv and EKS&H, Lewan Technology doesn’t quite match up with what one might consider a conventional Denver MSP. Why? It has a pretty famous parent company with a $10 billion market cap: Xerox Corp.
   
   
4. 4. Global Technology Resources -- With deep expertise in networking and data center technologies, GTRI has 160 employees companywide on LinkedIn -- of which 114 are in Denver.
   
   
5. 5. RAS & Associates-- Again like many of the other larger MSP-ish types of firms on this ranking list, RAS & Associates doesn’t consider itself a Denver-based managed service provider. But rather RAS & Associates is a management consulting firm with a functional practice in business systems analysis and IT. Companywide, it has 84 employees on LinkedIn of which 39 are in Denver.
   
   
6. 6. Peak Resources -- Leading the bottom half of this top 10 list, Peak Resources seems to be the largest, independently-owned IT services company in Denver that maps most closely with the conventional definition of a managed IT services provider. Even Peak Resources describes itself as more of an integrator and IT consulting firm. With 78 employees companywide on LinkedIn and 35 in Denver, Peak Resources wields considerable influence in the Denver managed services market. However since you won’t find even a single mention of “managed services” on its website’s home page or LinkedIn company profile, it’s probably safe to say that its leadership isn’t a fan of the label.
   
   
7. 7. NIMBL -- With its core focus on SAP professional services, NIMBL is hardly what most would consider a managed service provider. However, it does have 67 employees companywide on LinkedIn -- of which 49 are in Denver. And NIMBL most certainly provides outsourced IT services. But it clearly has quite a different focus than the conventional SMB-targeting, Microsoft-centric MSP. NIMBL has branded itself as “North America’s SAP Technologists.”
   
   
8. 8. RTL Networks -- Positioning itself as more of a technology solutions provider, rather than a managed services provider, RTL Networks does a little more staff augmentation and government contracting than a traditional MSP. Yet RTL Networks partners with many of the same kinds of companies that MSPs do, such as Brocade, Cisco, Hitachi Data Systems, and HP. With 66 employees companywide on LinkedIn and 22 in Denver, RTL Networks is one of the bigger MSP-ish IT service providers in the metro Denver area.
   
   
9. 9. Panorama Consulting Solutions -- Once again like most of the other IT service providers on this list, Panorama Consulting Solutions doesn’t chase after the typical SMB Microsoft-centric type of managed services clients. Panorama Consulting Solutions specializes in enterprise resource planning (ERP) consulting for the mid-market and enterprise. Panorama Consulting Solutions has 50 employees company-wide on LinkedIn and 39 in Denver.
   
   
10. 10. IQ Wired -- Unlike most of the companies on this list, IQ Wired provides managed services and isn’t afraid to use the phrase on its LinkedIn company page or home page. That said, IQ Wired approaches the Denver managed services space with deep expertise in telecommunications -- and gets involved with cloud platforms, conferencing, voice, data centers, Ethernet, fiber, and security. IQ Wired has 26 employees companywide on LinkedIn, and nearly all are in Denver.
    
    

There you have it. 10 of the biggest managed services providers in the metro Denver area.

What they have in common? All are major employees of IT services professionals. All provide professional services. And most don’t consider their companies managed service providers -- but rather get involved with managed IT services from alternate approaches such as accounting, cyber-security, document imaging, ERP, or management consulting.

Which firms do you consider to be the biggest managed service providers in Denver? Are they pure-play MSPs? Or are they more MSP-ish like those on this list?