IBM Consulting acquires Australian cloud specialist SXiQ
Digital and cloud transformation specialist SXiQ has been picked up by global tech heavyweight IBM Consulting. SXiQ will continue under the same brand and retain its team.
Based out of Melbourne, SXiQ provides services around cloud applications, platforms and security, with expertise in migrating enterprise workloads on platforms including AWS and Azure. It will join IBM Consulting’s rapidly expanding Hybrid Cloud Services business.
“Companies are very clearly deploying hybrid cloud strategies as interoperability, security, compliance and avoiding vendor lock-in are top of mind,” said IBM Consulting hybrid cloud services senior vice president John Granger, a former partner at PwC. IBM's acquisition of SXiQ brings additional hybrid and multi-cloud expertise that is at the core of open innovation for clients.”
With a pedigree dating back some forty years, SXiQ evolved out of Melbourne’s Southern Cross Computer Systems (SCCS) following its 2016 acquisition, and has since focused on offering cloud consulting and solutions to clients in the consumer goods, manufacturing, energy & utilities, and financial services sectors among others, supported by a headcount in excess of 100 professionals.
“Our clients can now take advantage of IBM’s broad capabilities around enterprise resource planning systems, data & analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence, deep platform partnerships and global delivery capabilities,” said SXiQ Managing Director John Hanna, who previously worked as a delivery executive at IBM and led the acquisition of SCCS following a period as a cloud and managed services director at Interactive.
SXiQ will retain its identity, team and brand, operating under the label ‘SXiQ, an IBM company’. Taking to LinkedIn, Hanna added that the acquisition (which was advised on by red-hot M&A boutique SCD) was “the strongest possible recognition of the excellence, talent, and tireless work of our team in helping our customers adopt, modernise, manage and secure their cloud environments.”
For IBM’s part, the company notes its latest acquisition marked the tenth for IBM Consulting (which in October rebranded from IBM Global Business Services) since current CEO Arvind Krishna took the helm early last year, demonstrating its concerted push to enhance its hybrid cloud capabilities. BoxBoat Technologies and Rego Consulting are among its recent US acquisitions.
“IBM is constantly seeking to design and discover industry leading technology and talent that best serves the needs of our clients,” commented IBM A/NZ general manager Katrina Troughton. “This includes Australian innovation and expertise. We are thrilled to welcome John and the SXiQ team to the IBM family, further expanding our hybrid and multi-cloud capabilities.”
