Dimension Data has bought UK company Teksys to manage its Microsoft licensing services.
According to a DiData statement, Teksys is now a wholly-owned DiData subsidiary.
While DiData has been operating in the UK for three years, it hopes to strengthen its market share in the business solutions space in the UK. Its Microsoft Solutions business and Teksys will now operate as one unit, with Teksys managing its Microsoft licences.
The management board of the merged business will comprise of representatives from UK members of DiData and Teksys.
Rob Lopez, MD of general solutions for DiData, says the deal arose because the company wanted to drive its business solutions into the UK, and Teksys has strong Microsoft licensing agreement experience.
“The merged business will be selling professional managed services. Dimension Data is taking the same business model it has in Australia and SA and is bringing that model to the UK. The acquisition allows Dimension Data to scale up very quickly and gives us an opportunity to gain significant market share in the UK.”
Lopez adds: “There are few markets that are able to offer a full blend of consulting service and do service licensing transactions. It's a fragmented market in terms of the number of Microsoft service companies and software resellers, and Dimension Data can now offer the full service. We believe the company is well positioned and the time is right to take significant market share.”
The value of the deal has not been disclosed.
No immediate changes
It will be business as usual for the two companies in the short- and medium-term, notes Lopez.
“Teksys will maintain its brand and will operate as a Microsoft services division, but now as part of Dimension Data. We are working closely with Microsoft in the UK as well; there are already a number of accounts that we are working on and we will make sure that our interests, as well as the interests of our resellers, are protected.”
Steve Joubert, DiData group executive for general solutions, says it is looking to expand its Microsoft services, which include software advice, design and deployment, and support services, into the UK.
“When Dimension Data launched its Microsoft services business three years ago, the group's objective was to expand its capabilities and footprint in the Microsoft infrastructure space.
“The Teksys transaction is aligned with this objective and provides both companies with significant benefits, particularly in their consulting skills base and licensing capability.”
Joubert adds: “It allows us to focus on Microsoft licensing agreements in the managed services. Effectively, we can go to our customers and offer them full life cycle management on their software platform, to deploying and managing the software.”
Branching out
CEO of Dimension Data Europe Russell Bolan says the acquisition paves the way for the group to immediately provide its UK clients with new services around virtualisation, data centre design, software asset management and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007.
The deal will also bolster DiData's unified communication technology skills, he adds.
Teksys' Alan Watkins has been appointed as MD of the merged business.
“We are very pleased to be part of the Dimension Data family. Being a global, financially strong organisation, with a track record of over 25 years, bodes well for Teksys clients, as they will be able to leverage the strengths of Dimension Data's global partner relationships and broader solution sets,” he says.
Teksys is headquartered in the UK and employs around 80 people.
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