IT Channel Acquisition Frenzy Continues as Dimension Data Buys Ceryx

ICT solutions provider Dimension Data (DDT) today announced its acquisition of Ceryx Inc., a Microsoft-based service provider out of Toronto, for an undisclosed amount. Ceryx provides Fortune 500 clients in North America a suite of services across the Microsoft Messaging and Collaboration Suite, including Office 365, Exchange, SharePoint and Skype for Business.

Dimension Data’s Cloud Services for Microsoft (CSfM) solution already provides Exchange, SharePoint and Skype for Business on the private cloud. With the acquisition, Dimension Data broadens its Microsoft cloud offerings to offer the full portfolio in on-premise, private cloud, public cloud or hybrid cloud environments.

The move is reflective of an overall frenzy of M&A activity in the IT channel as companies turn to acquisitions to enable their business models to keep pace with a fast-growing technology marketplace.

“This strategic acquisition fast tracks Dimension Data’s hybrid offering, and positions the combined entities as one of the few companies globally that can offer the full suite of different delivery models that allows organizations to provision, manage and optimize these workloads through a single management portal, irrespective of platform or location,” said Ettienne Reinecke, Dimension Data’s Group CTO, in a statement.

Dimension Data is a wholly owned subsidiary of NTT Group, whose data division just purchased the IT consulting asset formerly known as Perot Systems from Dell for $3.05 billion last week. NTT Group recently said it hopes to grow its overseas revenue to $22 billion by 2018, and acquisition activity seems to be a big part of its strategy to achieve that goal. In the last five years, the company has spent the equivalent of $547 million on acquisitions outside of Japan.

“We’re thrilled to join Dimension Data and the wider NTT Group,” said Ceryx CEO Gus Harsfai. “Our combined technology offerings and approach to end-user computing strengthens our ability to support businesses across the world on private, public and hybrid technology platforms.”