Accenture buys AWS and Microsoft Azure consultancy Olikka
Melbourne-based Olikka is a 50-strong cloud native firm with advanced certifications in Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure cloud platforms. Accenture has now absorbed this team, boosting its Australia & New Zealand cloud offering.
Olikka was set up as an enterprise IT firm in 2011, helping businesses to use the power of cloud to drive digital transformation. With an end-to-end cloud offering – spanning strategy through design and implementation – the firm boasts an expansive clientele today, served by 50 cloud native experts.
The University of Melbourne, Tabcorp, Sportsbet and Coles are just some of the myriad big-ticket clients that have modernised their IT systems with the help of Olikka, which bears the proud label of AWS Advanced Consulting Partner. This is in addition to more than 20 certifications in AWS and nearly 30 in Microsoft Azure.
Now, Olikka will serve to further the Accenture Cloud First agenda – a global practice launched in September with plans to invest $3 billion in cloud technologies over the next three years. The premise is that businesses will be 80% cloud driven in less than half a decade – a trend put into hyperspeed by Covid-19 and the digital working imperative.
As businesses in ANZ and around the world pick cloud as their means to efficiency, resilience and security, Accenture Cloud First hopes to be the partner of choice driving this change. For Karthik Narain, global lead for Accenture Cloud First, Olikka will be at the core of this ambition.
“Olikka’s extensive experience with AWS and Azure, coupled with their strong cloud-native capabilities in high demand areas such as application modernization and security, means we can go straight to the heart of our clients’ most pressing challenges and fully deliver value.”
In ANZ, cloud growth was already on the fast track before the pandemic, as a growing share of businesses savvied to the productivity benefits. Last year, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) predicted that Australia’s cloud market would boom to $11 billion by 2023 – a figure that is only expected to rise in light of Covid-19.
Yet, while investments are high, ANZ businesses are yet to extract the full value from their cloud initiatives. This is the gap that Accenture hopes to fill with some of the leading cloud service providers in the world. “The addition of Olikka will immediately reinforce Accenture’s position as a leading AWS and Microsoft Azure cloud partner in the Australia-New Zealand market,” said Scott Hahn, technology lead for Accenture ANZ.
Managing director at Olikka Michael Pascoe noted that the relatively smaller team brings something special to this substantial regional cloud offering. “We’ve always made a difference for our clients, and with Accenture’s resources, scale, and ecosystem partnerships we can now scale-up that impact with cloud transformation projects of any size and type. We look forward to contributing our ingenuity, skills and culture to the Accenture team, and to helping clients in the region use cloud to innovate faster to make a difference.”
Australia acquisition spree
Olikka is not the only team joining the cloud-first behemoth this year. In October, Accenture acquired Zag – a 200-strong cloud-focused consulting firm with offices in Wellington, Auckland, Sydney and Melbourne.
The two additions in just a span of three months are set to put Accenture among the leading cloud players in the ANZ market, competing with a host of other notable consultancies that have been edging into the regional cloud market. Cloud-first acquisitions aside, the Olikka pick up is Accenture’s sixth ANZ-based buy in just 18 months, signaling a strong focus on the region.
Sydney-based strategy consultancy AlphaBeta joined Accenture in March, while Icon Integration joined in February. Canberra-based Apis Group was picked up by Accenture in December last year, and Analytics8 and BCT Solutions were both acquired earlier in 2019.
