Ovations, a specialist IT and business consulting services company, has acquired Western Cape based ICT consulting company Marshall Technologies, effective March 2016.
The acquisition fuels Ovations’ ongoing growth strategy by providing the company a further foothold in the Western Cape, while at the same time enabling Marshall Technologies to offer new and existing customers a host of additional specialist ICT services, from within the Ovations basket of offerings.
“We are delighted to welcome the Marshall team to the Ovations group. The cultural fit between the companies is seamless and we believe the exceptional consulting and development skills they bring to the table will greatly assist us in further providing specialist services to customers in the Western Cape,” says Rainer Gaier, MD of Ovations.
To date, Marshall has provided specialist IBM Middleware expertise to customers in the province, boasting high profile customers such as Sanlam and the like. According to Gaier, the acquisition will not only provide Ovations an expanded footprint into the Western Cape, but also access to sought-after specialist ICT skills in light of what is a growing ICT skills shortage in South Africa.
As per the terms of the acquisition Marshall Technologies will be incorporated as part of Ovations. The team will remain in their existing offices and the management team will retain responsibility for the day-to-day running of the regional team. Furthermore Ovations will seek to emulate and roll out its specialist brand of business improvement solutions to customers.
“At Marshall we had reached a growth ceiling, where the logical progression for us was to find a partner to help us to expand and grow the business. The fit between Ovations and ourselves was instant, and I believe that we will now be able to tap into the company’s extensive expertise, to provide customers in the Cape with a whole new range of value-added ICT solutions,” says Paul Bezuidenhout, MD of Marshall Technologies.
“Our business model has always been to maintain a personal touch with customers while offering specialist services – as this is the same ethos of Ovations – I believe the acquisition will give us a much needed boost as we will be able to maintain our culture, but now offer customers a full basket of services, in essence becoming a one-stop shop” he adds.