Teneo deal adds expertise

Piers Carey: Establishing an Asian presence is a long-term goal

After completing its first acquisition, VAR Teneo will focus on enhancing its professional services expertise to fulfil ambitious growth plans.

Teneo recently bought VAR iSimile and chief executive Piers Carey claimed the deal would boost the firm’s management product portfolio.

He added that further acquisitions bolstering performance or virtualisation expertise would appeal.

“The best thing we are acquiring is the people – iSimile’s technical team is first class,” he said.

Teneo’s main vendor partner is Riverbed and Carey hailed the chance to cross-sell management products into a WAN optimisation-weighted customer base.

A fifth of Teneo’s business comes from the US and Carey claimed establishing an Asian presence was a long-term goal.

For the time being iSimile will continue as a standalone company. Leigh Collett, managing director of iSimile, will head up the group’s professional services operations.

“Leigh will have a crucial role,” said Carey. “A key goal is to expand our professional services offering.”

Clive Longbottom, service director at analyst Quorcirca, said: “As the market moves towards subscription-based models, the money will be made by service providers.”