Published on the 23/03/2011 | Written by Newsdesk
Adaptable Solution’s change signals another round of local and international IT vendor consolidation as integrated solutions seen as the future…
The changing IT vendor landscape took another step forward this week as announcements came of amalgamations from both local Microsoft partners and global ERP vendors.
Long established kiwi Microsoft Dynamics partners Complete Solutions and Adaptable Solutions announced their merger and plan to operate as a combined team under the Adaptable Solutions banner.
The merger strengthens Adaptable Solution’s position in delivering Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Dynamics AX and Microsoft Dynamics SL solutions.
For Adaptable, the move has seen staff numbers almost double, with 10 CRM and ERP certified specialists joining the team.
Managing Director and founder of Adaptable Solutions, Duncan Cox, believes the time is right to take full advantage of the growth in integrated CRM, ERP and cloud computing.
“Organisations are increasingly extending the use of ERP systems to include CRM. [In consolidating] and adding greater resources to the business, the merger allows us to take full advantage of the growth in integrated CRM,” says Duncan.
“Microsoft’s recent release of CRM Online also enables us to offer a cloud computing solution, a technology we expect to see emerge as a force in the ERP market in the near future.”
Prior to merging, both organisations developed add-on modules for the Dynamics AX and SL products and marketed these internationally through Microsoft partner network and have successfully established resellers in more than 20 countries around the world.
The merger is being effected by the issue of 40% of the shares in Adaptable Solutions Ltd to Complete Solutions DG Ltd, which in turn is owned by Data Group Ltd and interests associated with John Biggs. The company directors will now include Duncan Cox as Managing Director, John Biggs as Director of Sales and Marketing, and Rollo Gillespie and Richard Carlyon as Directors.
Adaptable Solutions has expanded its head office in Auckland and will continue to operate from existing premises in Christchurch and Wellington.
In the another deal at the big end of the ERP food chain, global software conglomerate Infor Global Solutions has made a bid for Lawson Software in a US$1.8billion deal. If it goes ahead – the Lawson board and their advisors are only now considering the unsolicited approach – it will create the third largest ERP vendor behind SAP and Oracle. Infor, the owner of the previously well known Syteline and Baan ERP solutions, has bought up more than 30 vendors over recent years under its private equity partner Golden Gate Capital.
The deal will add around US$740 million to Infor’s revenues.
Shares have been trading at around $12 against the offer of $11.25. Some analysts are commenting that both Infor and Lawson require significant development investment to create fully cloud-based solutions from their primarily client-server architectures, something that may be more easily achieved under private equity arrangement. An IPO for Infor has been touted for some time.
