Knowledge Integration Dynamics (Kid) has acquired 49% of 8th Man Consulting, a relative newcomer to the business intelligence market. The move gives Kid access to the market for Hyperion services in South Africa.
8th Man Consulting has positioned itself as a specialised consultancy in the burgeoning business performance management (BPM) market, where it provides services to companies which have standardised on Hyperion solutions, such as System 9 and Hyperion Financial Management (HFM).
"8th Man is a strategic addition to our group," says Kid MD Aubrey van Aswegen. "It allows us to access a huge market which is growing rapidly and therefore strapped for skills. 8th Man is able to access these skills locally and internationally, which means we expect rapid growth for this new addition to the Kid fold.
"We were also attracted to 8th Man's business ethos, which matches our own: highly entrepreneurial, customer-centric, services-based, and highly ethical. 8th Man will make a significant contribution to group earnings in its first year, and we expect the business to grow by more than 500% in its first year with Kid."
"Kid is well-established, has an outstanding brand and a good reputation in the market," says Adrian Van Der Merwe, MD of 8th Man Consulting. "It has some of the market's leading distribution agencies and partnerships. Joining the group allows us to fast-track our growth in a way that would not have been possible on our own. It allows us to achieve in one year what we would have done in three.
"We gain access to the greatest customer-base in the South African business intelligence market, Kid's unrivalled back-office infrastructure, and an extended sales force, which will allow us to access Kid's existing accounts. Kid, in turn, enters a new market with no risk, and is well positioned to create a dedicated business intelligence contracting and skills company."
Van Der Merwe, a financial specialist, spent several years with a leading consultancy in the UK. On returning to SA he founded 8th Man Consulting: the name of the company refers to the roving, linking role played by the eighth man in a rugby team, where he links the forwards and backs. Similarly, 8th Man Consulting links the often divergent needs of business and IT.
Specialising in the fields of business intelligence, BPM and financial consolidation, 8th Man has set its sights on becoming the leading BPM consulting vendor in SA.
BEE-compliant, Kid was formed eight years ago as a product-agnostic business intelligence specialist, and since has grown to close on 100 people, with a customer base spanning the entire corporate market, along with representation in the public sector.
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