Partner consolidation starts to pick up

Just a few trading days into the new year, the first wave of channel consolidation started in earnest. The Oracle channel was the scene of some movement, with DSP acquiring fellow UK partner Acardia.

The deal bolsters DSP’s position as a source of Oracle products and expertise across a range of infrastructure technologies.

“Acardia’s long-standing reputation and heritage within the UK Oracle market is well known, so I am delighted to have the opportunity to integrate their business into ours. This acquisition aligns perfectly with our growth strategy and commitment to developing our Oracle ‘from ground to Cloud’ propositions and delivering more for our customers,” said Simon Goodenough, CEO of DSP Group.

According to Dave Shearer, CEO of Acardia, it was the right the time for the business to start a fresh chapter with DSP. “After enjoying more than 25 years of loyal customer support it was important to us to find the ideal home for our key people and Oracle clients,” he said.

In the unified communications (UC) market, CallTower has snapped up Canadian contact centre-as-a-service (CCaaS) specialist Inoria.

The tie-up will extend its reach in Canada and North America, while also deepening the capabilities of the group.

“The acquisition of Inoria presents an exciting strategic opportunity for our customers and partners, enhancing our growth in delivering global best-of-breed enterprise communication solutions,” said CallTower CEO Bret England.

“This acquisition offers our combined customers and the enterprise market expanded communication solutions with extensive resources for design, licensing, implementation, integration and support of an extensive list of CCaaS and CAI solutions, along with our industry-leading UCaaS offerings,” he added.

Joe Bigio, co-founder and executive vice-president of Inoria, said the acquisition would provide the business with more expansion options.

“This unique partnership allows us to accelerate innovation, expand our services, reach new markets and scale rapidly while delivering even greater value to our partners and enterprise customers across North America and speedily into Europe,” he said. 

Elsewhere, security player Integrity360 picked up South Africa-based Nclose as part of its global expansion to strengthen its position in the cyber security services sector.

As well as expanding its staff and presence in the country, Nclose also adds its internally developed managed detection and response (MDR) platform CyberFire to the group.

Ian Brown, executive chairman at Integrity360, said Nclose would have a positive impact across the business.

“The journey they have been on since their formation in 2006 is highly impressive and we are looking forward to helping them provide an enhanced set of services to their customers and expanding further in the wider South African market during 2025 and beyond,” he said.

“The addition of CyberFire brings another service and growth capability to the group, further expanding the depth of Integrity360’s XDR and MDR portfolio for the benefit of our wider international customer base,” he added.

In response, Stephen Osler and Martin Potgieter, founders and directors of Nclose, said the tie-up – the terms of which were not disclosed – would benefit staff and customers.

“Thanks to the support of our customers, partners and employees, Nclose has grown and flourished,” they said. “Having spent considerable time with Ian and the wider Integrity360 leadership team, we are confident that we will continue to do so being part of the Integrity360 group.”