Bytes acquires Alliance Business Solutions

Bytes Technology Group‚ wholly owned by the JSE-listed Altron Group has announced the acquisition of Alliance Business Solutions through Bytes Systems Integration (Bytes SI) for an undisclosed amount.

The deal is subject to fulfillment of certain conditions precedent, it said.

The rationale for the transaction is to significantly leverage synergistic Oracle capabilities and position the company as the Partner of choice for Oracle end-to-end offerings and cloud-based solutions to customers.

Subsequent to the acquisition‚ Bytes SI will become one of the very select few Platinum partners within the Oracle Partner Network Ecosystem in South Africa‚ that are able to sell and deliver specialised services across the entire Application‚ Middleware‚ Database Technology and Hardware layers of the world class Oracle “Red Stack”‚ securing its goal of becoming a R1 billion plus revenue business.

Alliance has a staff compliment of 50 highly qualified business and IT specialists. It has been a leader in the South African ERP space for the past 12 years and an Oracle Platinum Partner for the past four years. Its extensive local client list‚ consisting of large corporations and its vast experience in the ERP and Primavera space‚ makes Alliance a highly complementary addition to the Bytes SI stable.

Pieter Bensch‚ MD and vice president of Oracle South Africa‚ said: “We are very excited about the acquisition and regard this as one of the key announcements of the year in the local IT industry. As one of the top Oracle partners in the local market‚ the merger between Bytes SI and Alliance places Bytes ahead of its competitors in terms of cloud offerings and will significantly strengthen the relationship between Oracle and Bytes.”

The acquisition of Alliance is a logical next step for Bytes SI in terms of completing its already strong Oracle portfolio‚ by adding the experience and track record in ERP and Primavera capital project implementation‚ which Alliance brings to the table.

According to Rob Griggs‚ MD of Bytes SI‚ the acquisition will extend their offering comprehensively‚ grow their customer base and enable Bytes SI to bring more value to their existing customers.

“With Alliance‚ as Oracle’s major SA Primavera partner becoming part of Bytes Technology Group‚ our cohesive strategy will include the launch of various cloud-based initiatives in areas such as Capital Projects‚ Human Resources and other complementary SaaS (Software as a service) offerings for the Southern African market. This strategy will also enhance our capabilities in Africa and the Middle-East and open further expansion opportunities on the continent” said Griggs.

The MD of Alliance‚ Brian Edy‚ believes the transaction will enable Alliance to compete on a wider platform with other large Oracle partners and particularly into Africa. He said that as a key player in the local IT market and business arena‚ Bytes SI offers the advantages of a strong balance sheet‚ Data Centre capacity‚ training facilities as well as the huge benefit of being a Level 2 broad-based black economic empowered contributor.

“In a highly competitive industry where IT technology is becoming more and more commoditised‚ this acquisition is in line with our group’s strategic focus to continually seek and develop our products and services base in order to add value to our clients‚” says Rob Abraham‚ CEO of the Bytes Group.