Subscribe

Orange Business Services buys Atheos

Nicola Mawson
By Nicola Mawson, Contributor.
Johannesburg, 10 Jan 2014
The new security offering will also be provided into Africa, says Mark McCallum, Orange Business Services' head of global services for Africa.
The new security offering will also be provided into Africa, says Mark McCallum, Orange Business Services' head of global services for Africa.

Orange Telecom's business-to-business arm has bought Atheos for an undisclosed amount, in a bid to strengthen its role in the cyber defence space.

Orange Business Services says the deal makes it the largest European cyber defence company, and strengthens its position in advanced security services. The move will also increase its offerings in Africa, where it already has a presence in 40 countries.

Mark McCallum, the unit's head of global services for Africa, explains: "Managed security is vital to the African and South African markets, where we have a strong focus on the financial services and mining verticals."

Orange Business Services has said it wants to almost double revenue from Africa to EUR7 billion by 2015, and it seeks to entrench its position on the continent. Revenue from the continent is anticipated to grow 20% a year, from the current EUR4 billion of the unit's EUR7 billion in annual revenue.

Orange Business Services has 21 000 staff, in 166 countries, and more than 3 000 multinational clients. In Middle East and Africa, Orange has 2 000 "feet on the ground". Its new acquisition, and its current security offerings, will be rebranded to Orange Cyberdefense.

McCallum says Orange Business Services has a number of key customers in Africa to which it has provided security services, which range from dedicated standalone to fully-managed security perimeter protection.

"We will undoubtedly be offering our local clients the benefits of Orange Cyberdefense going forward."

Founded in 2002, Atheos provides IT identity and security management in the French market. It has 130 staff in the cyber security field. Orange Business Services offers managed and integrated security solutions in 220 countries and territories, and has eight security operations centres globally to monitor these solutions.

Share