Cloud computing and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) mergers and acquisitions dominated the financial landscape in 2012 – another sign managed services will continue their accelerated uptake.
A report released this week from Ernst & Young shows that these types of companies comprised more than 15 percent of global technology M&A deal volume last year.
The report also shows that enterprise software suppliers represented a major growth area for M&A activity in relation to their increased focus on cloud offerings. Cisco's purchase of NDS Group Ltd. was the largest deal in this sector, followed by SAP's $4.5 billion acquisition of supply chain SaaS provider Ariba. Other prominent deals included Oracle's $2 billion purchase of human capital management SaaS company Taleo, as well as IBM's $1.4 billion purchase of Kenexa.
Kenexa provides services that enable organizations to recruit new employees as well as manage talent through social media and collaboration.
This week brought several partnership announcements to the managed services space, including an agreement between Verizon and cloud security and compliance management solutions provider, Qualys, Inc. The deal will enable the delivery of new advanced, cloud-based IT security and compliance management services, and expand on the companies' existing partnership while reinforcing Verizon's portfolio of global management services.
New managed services include vulnerability management, Web application scanning, PCI and policy compliance solutions.
Software and services-based business support solutions provider, CSG Systems International, Inc. announced a global expansion of its managed services program this week. The new offering combines the company's portfolio of solutions, including the CSG Singleview convergent platform, the wholesale billing platform, the CSG Wholesale Business Management Solution and the company's direct to consumer content monetization platform, CSG Content Direct.
The goal of the consolidated managed services portfolio is to help service providers lower costs, transform their operations and create flexible customer support.
Enterprise-class IaaS provider, Ajubeo, debuted its flexible and scalable high-performance cloud infrastructure this week in tandem with ScienceLogic. The company is now offering its customers reliable and interconnected, carrier-neutral cloud hubs via its national network of data centers. The hubs provide access through secure private network connections from anywhere in the world.
The company's partnership with ScienceLogic, which develops smart IT software for unified monitoring and management solutions, gives Ajubeo a more thorough and resilient cloud infrastructure for organizations of all sizes.
