Servian acquires Vibrato to form 400-strong cloud consultancy
Data science consulting firm Servian has acquired Vibrato, in a multi-million dollar deal that creates one of Australia’s largest privately owned cloud consultancies.
“We talked to other interested parties but Servian felt like the best cultural fit. Both of our company’s clients are gaining access to a broader set of specialist skills,” said Peter Gatt, co-founder of Vibrato.
Founded in 2015, Melbourne-based Vibrato supports clients with tapping into the benefits of working in the cloud. The company helps with the design of cloud-based working blueprints and with the migration towards a new environment. Vibrato partners with the globe’s three largest cloud providers – Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.
The deals sees Vibrato’s 50 professionals join Servian, lifting the latter’s headcount to nearly 400 consultants, data engineers and staff. “This deal will help us move customers more quickly and efficiently to the cloud,” said Tony Nicol, Servian’s founder and chief executive.
The move comes at a time of booming demand for cloud services. A recent study by Deloitte found that 2017 and 2018, the number of businesses using paid cloud services in Australia more than doubled from 19% to its current level of 42%. This shift is boosting company productivity, and according to Deloitte, the aggregated benefit of cloud-based working to Australia’s economy has amounted to nearly $9.5 billion over the last half a decade.
“Every business we speak to is trying to realise a shift to the cloud,” elaborated Nicol. “We both specialise in helping clients design, build and manage multi-cloud environments, and through this partnership, we will be able to move customers to the cloud more quickly and efficiently.”
As part of the transaction, Servian has also taken a 40% stake in Hava, a sister company of Vibrato that specialises in cloud software. James Martelletti, the other co-founder of Vibrato, will continue to lead Hava, while Gatt joins Servian as a partner.
International ambitions
The joining of forces will further help both IT consulting companies solidify their international presence. While they both have small footprints in various overseas markets, mainly New Zealand, the bundling of offerings and resources will mean that they can leverage consolidation to better position the firm for growth. Integrations plans reveal that the duo are planning to launch a satellite office in the United Kingdom before the end of the year.
While deals in the consulting space are notorious for their difficulties, Nicol is convinced that the blend between the two will be a fruitful one. “There are many things to consider when looking at options for investments and acquisitions, but culture – that fundamentally we will still be the same company – has been at the forefront of the priority list for us. Vibrato’s reputation in the market and their passion for technology was the first thing that brought them to our attention. In getting to know the team, we quickly realised that there was a strong alignment between our culture and values.”
M&A activity in Asia Pacific’s cloud consulting market is on a high off late. Deloitte in particular has been active, acquiring New Zealand-based consultancy CloudinIT in January this year, four months after it bolted-on Amazon specialist CloudTrek in Australia. Accenture meanwhile bought Australian Oracle consultancy PrimeQ for $31 million at the start of the year, while EY in recent months picked up Plaut IT and the larger Adelphi Digital.
