Morse eyes UC as it mulls acquisitions
Integrator admits Cisco and Avaya UC skills are two blind spots in its portfolio
Phillips: In time we will be looking to expand what we do
Morse chief executive Mike Phillips has hinted that Cisco or Avaya VARs could be on his potential shopping list in 2010 as he pursues aggressive growth.
As the integrator heads for a £200m turnover and operating margin of five per cent, Phillips is keen to grow both organically and through acquisition.
Phillips said: “In time we will be looking to expand what we do either organically or by looking at acquisition opportunities. We are looking to get into sectors of the market that we do not currently offer. The recovery of Morse continues.
“If we look at the UK market there is the opportunity for a larger-scale, broadly based IT provider. There is nobody inbetween firms such as Phoenix IT and Computacenter,” he said.
Phillips added that Morse currently does not cover unified communications (UC) in its portfolio, in particular Cisco and Avaya.
“It is an area where we would look at an opportunity to get into the market through acquisition,” he said.
He added that the firm has been busy ‘re-engaging’ with customers and vendors to get its messaging right.
“More than 50 per cent of our revenue involves reselling in some shape or form – we do have services revenue and our managed services business is growing,” he said.
“But you have to get the messaging right. If you are being described externally as something else everything starts getting confused. We are in a competitive market and we want to beat the competition.”
Nick Grossman, corporate business development director at integrator 2e2, said any competition in the UC space would be welcomed.
“UC is a technically complicated market and you need good credentials,” he said.
“Morse would have to acquire someone that has a respected name in that space to move forward. I do not think it would worry us because we are well established and could compete aggressively.”