Airborne Consulting has added DFA Solutions to its stable in a move that is expected to grow revenue by between 30% and 40%.
The deal, for an undisclosed amount, enables Airborne to offer managed service solutions to its current client base, explains CEO Sean O'Connell.
Created in 2004, Airborne Consulting is a majority BEE-owned company that specialises in IT and management consulting.
DFA is a BEE complaint company and was formed in 2005. It offers consultation, project management, support services, as well as the procurement of IT-related products.
O'Connell says Airborne concentrates on software development and solutions in the Microsoft stable. While the company was not focused on providing infrastructure solutions, it constantly found that it ended up procuring hardware and other items for customers, he says.
“We became piggy-in-the-middle,” notes O'Connell. He explains: “It is necessary to have the nuts and bolts to make sure that the solutions we supply or craft run smoothly.”
As a result, Airborne started courting DFA about 18 months ago, as DFA provided the additional solutions that Airborne increasingly needed to procure, says O'Connell.
DFA, which was already a supplier to Airborne, “is a very easy fit”, says COO Brian Harding. “Right at the start, what we didn't do, DFA did, and vice versa.” In addition, the companies do not share a common client base, which allows cross-selling of products, he points out.
Opening doors
The move is expected to open additional streams of revenue, and take Airborne further into the hosted application and managed services space. O'Connell believes the deal will add between 30% and 40% to the unlisted company's revenue line, as well as allow it to offer managed services offshore.
Cape Town-based Airborne will now also have a national presence, as DFA has offices in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Port Elizabeth and Bloemfontein.
DFA founder Deon Ferrier explains that it was started as a “break-fix” company with three staff members. It now has over 30 employees.
The company's model evolved into the managed services space and it developed applications that complement its service desk offering. The application logs calls and automatically issues alerts and suggested solutions, says Ferrier. This application will be added to Airborne's suite of offerings.
The deal, says Ferrier, “will open doors on quite a few fronts”.
While the companies will be run as separate brands, integration of head office functions should be completed in a few months, and will bring cost savings and efficiencies to the company, says O'Connell.
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