Black-owned IT Infrastructure solutions & software licensing provider; Enterprise Connection has acquired a 25.1% equity stake in nVisionIT, a specialised Microsoft .Net business solutions developer.
According to Graham van Zijl, managing director of nVisionIT, this transaction represents a significant milestone in the company`s move towards empowerment. "While we have been examining opportunities for empowerment for some time, we were adamant that we had to have the right partner - one that would add real value and bring a congruent and mutually advantageous business philosophy to the table," he says.
The deal is expected to unlock significant value for the parties by leveraging their respective competencies, while delivering ever greater benefits to their combined client and prospect bases.
While Enterprise Connection is respected for its provision of outsourced solutions, providing Microsoft licensing and consulting, nVisionIT is renowned for its ability to develop enterprise business solutions on the Microsoft .NET platform. This competence includes Microsoft CRM and Great Plains, Enterprise Application Integration, Business Intelligence, Information Portals and custom application development. "We see significant potential for growth by providing a complete solution set to our joint customer base through this partnership," says van Zijl.
The move is in line with trends indicated by the Meta Group which show that through 2004/05, organisations will consolidate disparate sourcing and procurement groups to exploit economies of scale. Supplier relationship management (SRM) strategy will emerge as an IT imperative by 2005/06, forcing the integration of sourcing, procurement and supplier management.
The transaction demands tangible business contributions from each company while contributing to the ability and reach of delivering innovation and excellence to customers. Mncedisi Mayekiso, executive director of Enterprise Connection adds, "The companies have complementary offerings and cultures that we believe can be easily integrated to create an organisation that delivers solutions with the sales strength of a business focused on volume turnover".
There will be reciprocal board representation between Enterprise Connection and nVisionIT to facilitate broad interaction between the companies, with Mayekiso stressing that collaboration will be encouraged at all levels to improve value delivery. "We`ve established synergies between our organisations that will require mutual dependency to open up new opportunities. Our growth potential will be significantly improved through this effort," he says.
He says nVisionIT`s software development, mid-market ERP and business applications competencies are required to complement Enterprise Connection`s established IT infrastructure offering. "The combined company can deliver more complete solutions to the customer. "While at present hardware revenues dominate we are aiming to increase the software portion to better balance our revenue mix".
With more customers looking for the provision of complete solutions, nVisionIT broadens the group`s overall proposition, he continues. "We are now one of only 3 players in the industry that cover the total Microsoft competency ranging from Office, Server, Applications and Mid-Market ERP. The group`s prospects are now brighter as it brings an integrated IT and business solutions proposition to market as an organisation with revenues of R250m with customers in Insurance, Telco, Media, Government, Manufacturing and Mining. Within this base we are looking to generate new revenue streams while seeking out new opportunities."
The deal is already bearing fruit, notes Mayekiso: "We have one government customer win worth R6, 2m, and have engaged several clients on the joint offering; a number of JSE listed companies are evaluating proposals worth R25.5m."
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