Infinity Group CEO Rob Young on company's first acquisition and Microsoft approach

The Microsoft MSP acquired RedkiteCRM last month

Cloud service provider Infinity Group is focusing on three core verticals as part of its 2024 strategy.

This three-pronged plan will look to social housing, utilities & energy and professional services to lead business growth for the group next year.

The social housing element has already kicked into gear following Infinity Group's buyout of RedkiteCRM last month.

Speaking to CRN following the company's first ever acquisition since its inception more than 20 years ago, CEO Rob Young lifts the lid on the reason behind the deal.

"Firstly, it's a really meaningful sector.

"The next one is the product itself. Their product sits on the Microsoft Power Platform and functions within Microsoft Dynamics. So it sits within our Microsoft-focused approach.

"And it's an industry that is crying out for transformational change."

This week research house IDC said it anticipates global spending on digital transformation (DX) will surge, reaching an impressive $3.9tn by 2027.

The EMEA region is set to contribute 26.8 per cent of DX spending worldwide this year.

Young listed some of the major challenges the social housing sector is facing, including rent arrears, fire safety and the cost of living, which he believes technology can help overcome.

"Technology automates a lot of those processes in a way that helps housing associations operate and ultimately give a much better experience to the tenants."

Infinity's Microsoft approach

The 150 headcount group began as an MSP and has evolved to focus more on Microsoft consulting, Dynamics products, and larger enterprise projects.

Young explains the thinking behind this was that Infinity wanted to take the conversation to the "next level", talking to the whole of the C suite, and not just IT managers.

"Where we've landed now is we can do CRM within Dynamics. We also have Business Central, which is the finance package and the whole of the Power Platform.

"We're now one of 12 Microsoft partners in the UK that have got all six solution designations across the three clouds.

"We are Microsoft-focused and we deliver the clouds through CSP. All of the professional services that go around that we also deliver, and then we have our own managed services on top of that as well."

Now Infinity has had a taste for M&A following its Redkite acquisition, Young opens up about the likelihood of more takeovers in the future.

"We will continue to look at opportunities.

"It could be another vertical move, or it could be a horizontal move across technology.

"But we are focused 100 per cent on Microsoft. We're one of 60 managed partners and a whole drive of growth is through our people and the development of our people and skills to get those partner designations.

"So it will either be a Microsoft-focused acquisition or it will either be a vertical acquisition that sits on Microsoft technology."