Acquisition part of Zinopy’s growth strategy, COO says

3 Dec 2010

IT services firm Zinopy has acquired the software, solutions and support services of Visusoft, which trades as Datasoft – the company’s third acquisition since it officially launched in September. The value of the deal has not been disclosed.

Zinopy said the deal would bolster its in-house software development capability, as well as complementing its growing team of project managers, consultants, developers and support staff.

Datasoft had developed its own accounting and workflow software called DataPOS. It gives Zinopy the opportunity to go to market with a comprehensive and proven application suitable for single site/single user organisations and larger multi-company, multi-site and multi-user operations.

“From a software perspective, it’s complementary to what we’ve been doing ourselves,” said Zinopy’s chief operating officer Geoff Keating. His own former company, Input Systems, was acquired by Zinopy earlier this year and he joined the board. Keating said Input and Datasoft had historically operated in some of the same areas.

“The Datasoft acquisition has been a shot in the arm, it’s generated activity, it’s increasing our recurring revenue and increasing our reach in terms of customers,” Keating added.

Zinopy was formed by IT security veteran John Ryan, who was most recently with Calyx. The new company has 30 staff and is planning to double employee numbers over the next two years. The Datasoft deal also includes the transfer of three technical support and development staff.

Prior to this latest deal, Zinopy had also acquired Clear Learning, a provider of training and development for IT professionals. “Acquisition will be a huge part of our growth strategy, although this deal probably came about as much through opportunity,” Keating told Siliconrepublic. “We have nothing on the table at the moment, but strengthening in the cloud computing area is something we would be very keen on.”

The last number of months has seen a lot of consolidation within the IT service provider sector. PFH bought the Siemens Networks business and Redstone Technology, while more recently Ergo acquired CDSoft for a reported seven-figure sum.

Gordon Smith was a contributor to Silicon Republic

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