Dimension Data set for more acquisitions

 

 

Dimension Data is in discussions to buy one of two companies operating in the software-applications market as part of its growth strategy.

Dimension Data Middle East and Africa CEO Derek Wilcocks said clients continued to demand that service providers manage all their information and technology functions, including hardware and software applications such as SAP and Oracle.

The group has already made acquisitions in this market, most recently Agile Business Solutions and Xpedia Fusion. Both companies provide a variety of Oracle software products and services and the acquisitions have given Dimension Data new clients in the education, telecommunications and financial services markets.

“In the next few months we will announce some more acquisitions. (These) will make us a significant player in the South African market in the application space, with original equipment manufacturers like Oracle, SAP and Microsoft,” Mr Wilcocks said.

“Besides the fact that there are significant opportunities in those markets, it is closely aligned with global offerings like cloud computing, enterprise services and outsourcing. Increasingly, we see clients not distinguishing between infrastructure application but ask to migrate applications to a cloud platform, so we will be positioned to cater for that with the skills we are bringing in.

Cloud computing refers to sharing of computing resources including hardware and software provide services such as storage and back up.

The companies to which Dimension Data is talking operate in Southern Africa. Its brands in the Middle East and Africa region grew by 7% in the past two years to $770m.

Dimension Data continues to grow on its clients’ expansion into sub-Saharan Africa. Its fastest-growing market is in Kenya, East Africa. In 2013, it bought information-technology firm AccessKenya for $36m as part of its sub-Saharan Africa expansion plans.

Other areas of growth Dimension Data is pursuing is in e-commerce where it sees its subsidiary Internet Solutions, which grew by 51% in the past two years to revenues of $490m, providing platforms for companies involved in mobile payments. Internet Solutions will also pursue opportunities in the small to medium enterprise market, as well as cloud computing.

Plessey, which is involved in deploying infrastructure for telecoms operators, will further grow into managed services, but overall revenues are expected to decrease although it will transition into a more sustainable business with more annuity businesses.

“While we expect to grow, the growth rate will not be as big as that experienced in the northern hemisphere,” said Mr Wilcocks.

Article and image source: bdlive.co.za