'Sparring partners' Blue Cube Security, Epaton and Next Generation Security merge to form one company

'Sparring partners' Blue Cube Security, Epaton and Next Generation Security merge to form one company

New entity to operate under Blue Cube Solutions brand

Blue Cube Security, Next Generation Security and storage specialist Epaton have announced they are to merge into a brand-new company called Blue Cube Solutions, aimed at providing customers with an "all-encompassing service".

The new group will offer managed and professional cybersecurity services, infrastructure solutions and private and public cloud solutions and will be headed up as CEO by Gary Haycock-West, Blue Cube's current CEO, while Epaton and Next Generation Security (NGS) co-founder and director Phil Dick will operate as COO.

Dick said each company will continue to operate autonomously "at least initially" for the purposes of contracts and sales, with the long-term goal of each business "migrating into the new company".

"We've been sparring partners for a while, but we don't really compete or clash with each other that often," he explained.

"And even on the security side of the business, our technologies and our service and support offerings are complementary, rather than competitive."

He added that the Next Generation Security name is expected to disappear "over time", though Haycock-West expects the Epaton name to remain under the Blue Cube Solutions label because of its "strong brand within the storage market".

Among the reasons highlighted for the merger by Haycock-West and Dick were the ability to offer a wider service, an increased geographical reach with offices across the country and a broader breadth of accreditations.

"Whilst we've been sparring partners for years, we were all somewhat surprised when we opened our kimonos to see there was only very, very few customers where we overlap with each other," Haycock-West explained.

"And actually, the predominant vendor sets in NGS and Blue Cube Security, looking at their specialisms and strengths, they're not in the same product set.

"It's allowed us to pull together our resources and give us a more coherent strength in depth and breadth of coverage at a highly accredited level. It gives us stronger revenues and it gives us stronger accreditation with the 21 years' worth of longevity.

"We've all seen significant growth in the cyber market, predominantly, and the storage market over the last few years, mainly because of Covid creating different habits and needs, so we're looking to maximise that growth by coming together, which will give us better strength and growth while taking advantage of the market conditions to be able to support and assist customers in their ever-changing needs and requirements."