Dimension Data acquires Ceryx to bolster Microsoft UC services

Dimension Data has acquired privately owned Ceryx, a Toronto-headquartered company that offers a suite of services across the Microsoft productivity and collaboration suite, including Office 365, Exchange, Sharepoint and Skype for Business.

The IT services firm said Ceryx, which helps integrate Microsoft unified communications platforms, will reside within its ITaaS unit. Dimension Data said it will combine Ceryx’s offerings with its Microsoft services to deliver a full services portfolio that spans on-premise, private cloud and public cloud, Office 365 – or a hybrid of any – for Microsoft Exchange, Sharepoint and Skype for Business. This includes the group’s private cloud offering called Cloud Services for Microsoft (CSfM).

“When combined with Dimension Data’s global client base which covers many industry verticals, this accelerates Dimension Data to a dominant global position in this market,” said DiData. The value of the acquisition has not been disclosed.

Ettienne Reinecke, Dimension Data’s group CTO, said: “We’ve seen strong adoption of our private cloud offering for Exchange, Sharepoint and Skype for Business. 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 organisations to provision, manage and optimise these workloads through a single management portal, irrespective of platform or location.”

He said: “Dimension Data’s clients are on a journey to migrate various workloads to the cloud. In most instances, the optimal fit for them is not one underlying platform, but rather a combination – or a hybrid – of platforms for Microsoft Office 365, Exchange, Sharepoint, and Skype for Business.

“The combined capabilities of Ceryx and Dimension Data’s end-user computing suite of services accelerates our time to market, and facilitates the client’s journey to the cloud,” said Reinecke.

Gus Harsfai, founder and CEO of Ceryx, said: “We’re thrilled to join Dimension Data and the wider NTT Group. 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.”

Martin Courtney, an analyst at TechMarketView, said of the acquisition: “The deal strengthens DiData’s hybrid cloud UC hosting credentials, specifically for companies using Microsoft Office 365, Exchange Sharepoint and Skype for Business.

“Most of Ceryx clients [currently] are based in the US and Canada, but include a small number of multinationals with sites in Europe and the Asia Pacific region. And many of those customers have additional mobile device management, security, auditing, support and migration requirements which are also served by Ceryx – consulting, integration and implementation expertise which DiData can now harness to deliver broader digital transformation services.”

He added: “The acquisition follows similar moves to centralise service propositions around Office 365 from other suppliers. HPE ramped up its consulting capabilities for Office 365 and Skype for Business late last year, with Insight, Daisy Group and many others pursuing similar strategies.”

@AntonySavvas