Deloitte Consulting adds Soda Strategic to its Digital subsidiary
In its second deal this year, and first since Adam Powick took over as chief executive, Deloitte has acquired Canberra-headquartered digital consultancy Soda Strategic.
“The digital agenda is a front and centre issue for our clients and indeed the nation, and we are committed to building the strongest and most innovative digital transformation practice in the market,” said Adam Powick.
Deloitte’s digital transformation offering is one of the largest in the market, in part due to a head start (Deloitte was back in 2012 the first of the Big Four to launch a dedicated digital division), and due to an expansive buy-and-build campaign. In Australia, Deloitte closed nine deals since the start of 2019, five of which beefed up its Deloitte Digital arm.
The Soda Strategic bolt-on adds a 30-strong team to Deloitte Digital across Canberra and Melbourne. Founded in 2016 by chief executive Angelo Paonne (now a partner at Deloitte Digital), Soda Strategic focuses on experience design, the implementation of CRM and marketing automation systems, mobile and web development, and integration services. The boutique is a Salesforce and Mulesoft partner.
For Deloitte, the deal bolsters its digital marketing and digital experience capabilities at a time when these services are in high demand, driven by the rapid growth of online and changing behaviours in both the public and private sector.
Esan Tabrizi, Head of Deloitte Digital in Sydney, said: “There are real opportunities for organisations to improve their customer interactions and achieve enterprise-wide transformation focused on digital experience. Soda Strategic delivers user-friendly systems that encourage new levels of performance, leverage automation and improve data integrity.”
It also adds a team of certified Salesforce and Mulesoft experts to its ranks, “complementing our existing capabilities,” said Deloitte Consulting’s managing partner Ellen Derrick. “Deloitte is already a market leader across the Salesforce ecosystem… Soda Strategic will add to our focus on delivering end-to-end Salesforce advisory and implementation projects for our clients.”
For Soda Strategic, integrating into one of the world’s largest consulting firms will enable the firm to “take its offerings to the next level. It’s an exciting time for our people,” said Paonne.
Earlier this month, Deloitte strengthened its Financial Advisory division with the acquisition of specialist actuarial consultancy Rice Warner.
Meanwhile, in Europe, Deloitte Digital yesterday announced it has expanded its Acne subsidiary – the firm’s Swedish-origin creative wing – into Amsterdam, the ninth location across the continent.
