Mergers, Acquisitions, Partnerships in May 2023

Akquinet expands SAP division

With this transaction, Akquinet, which has already been present in Poland for twenty years, further expands its reach.

Akquinet, a Hamburg-based consulting company with 950 employees, is acquiring SI-Consulting, a Polish company with 200 employees specializing in SAP implementation and IT services. The deal was signed and antitrust approval was applied for on March 24, 2023, with closing expected by the end of May 2023. Akquinet acquires shares in SI-Consulting, whose management will continue the successful development of the company and its expansion as part of the Akquinet Group.

“We are pleased that with SI-Consulting we can offer our SAP customers in Germany and Poland can provide even more comprehensive and better advice.“

Thomas Muszal,
Managing Director, Akquinet

"We are pleased that with SI-Consulting we can provide our SAP customers in Germany and Poland with even more comprehensive and better consulting services. We have already been active in Poland for years and can now really take off with SI-Consulting as one of the leading SAP consulting firms in Poland. At the same time, IT specialists and programmers will have the opportunity to develop their skills in cooperation with the Akquinet team," says Thomas Muszal, Managing Director for Akquinet and responsible for the SAP division.

Paweł Rytelewski, one of the managing directors of SI-Consulting, comments, "The competencies of SI-Consulting and Akquinet complement each other perfectly. We are very pleased that together with Akquinet we are now operating even more internationally."

Increased presence in the robotics market 

Cenit's Japanese subsidiary becomes part of Argo Graphics and henceforth acts as a master reseller for Cenit's Fastsuite E2 software.

Japan's robotics market is on the rise: according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), Japan ranked second in the world behind China in 2021 with an installed base of nearly 394,000 robot units. Internationally, Japan leads the way in robot manufacturing, with exports of Japanese industrial robots reaching a new high of 186,102 units in 2021.

“It's a win-win situation. Both our companies benefit from this.“

Peter Schneck,
CEO, Cenit

To accelerate its growth target, Cenit, a software and process consulting company, is entering into a forward-looking partnership with Argo Graphics, a group of companies headquartered in Tokyo, on March 29, 2023: in the process, Cenit's Japanese subsidiary will be wholly owned by Argo Graphics and will operate under a new name from June 1, 2023. Following the acquisition, the unit will act as Cenit's master reseller, focusing on sales of Fastsuite software. 

Support with vision

The partnership between Red Hat and Devoteam Germany has already existed since 2017. 

Devoteam, a consulting firm that has been guiding clients on their digital transformation journey for more than 25 years, joins Red Hat's Leading with Automation initiative. The Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform enables the automation of IT processes. Not only is the immense benefit of accelerated processes achieved, but consistent results are achieved without tying up employees in repetitive tasks. Using the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform not only automates IT processes in the shortest possible time, it also empowers organizations to realize the full potential of automation.

"In the future, the topic of IT automation will have to become an even greater focus.“

Michael Marz,
Principal Consultant and
Red Hat Partner Manager,
Devoteam Germany

Because of Red Hat's enterprise solution, IT processes can be scaled and reliably ported to different environments. Through the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, the automation of IT processes is done in a standardized way, minimizing risks and deviations on the one hand, and making processes repeatable and globally scalable on the other. With the Automation Hub, enterprise customers can realize the automation of IT processes in the shortest possible time and adapt and scale them to the individual requirements of their own operations.

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform subscriptions give Automation Hub users exclusive access to certified content from Red Hat and a network of more than 60 industry-leading partners. Devoteam places a high priority on providing customers with a comprehensive understanding of automation processes. Devoteam is certain that companies must rely on automation processes in the long term in order to remain competitive in the future despite growing competitive pressure.

Strategic growth

Efficient digitization of business processes: PwC Holdings and Possehl Digital participate in low-code platform Simplifier.

The low-code provider Simplifier has successfully completed its investment round and is pleased to welcome two new minority shareholders: PwC Holdings Germany and Possehl Digital are participating in Simplifier's growth financing. This is intended to help consolidate Simplifier's positioning in the DACH market and further expand its role as a low-code provider in Europe. Simplifier plans to expand the platform with further features, functions and integration possibilities and to expand the partner network.

The auditing and consulting firm PwC Germany is taking a stake in the German low-code provider through its affiliate PwC Holdings Germany together with Possehl Digital. The low-code platform Simplifier enables the development of applications using visual tools. This significantly accelerates development and deployment and reduces costs. In addition, specialist departments can be involved in the development of applications alongside IT specialists. Low-code technology is therefore of central importance for the sustainable digitization and innovative capability of companies.

Low-code helps SMEs to implement digital processes more quickly. The Simplifier low-code platform offers SMEs in particular a good opportunity to drive forward digital transformation in line with their own individual requirements. Applications created with Simplifier can be easily integrated into the existing IT infrastructure via open interfaces.

HPE acquires Axis Security

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is making a purchase. The company is taking over the Israeli company Axis Security. Its cloud-native SSE (Security Service Edge) solution called Atmos will be integrated into HPE Aruba Networking's offering and the Greenlake platform. The companies did not disclose the purchase price. The goal is to complement the SASE (secure access service edge) solution offering on the platform, they said. HPE plans to offer Axis' SSE platform in a SaaS model or as a monthly subscription. The deal is expected to close by the end of the second quarter of 2023.

"The transition from a post-pandemic to a hybrid work environment requires a new approach to security at the network edge to protect mission-critical SaaS applications," said Phil Mottram, executive vice president at HPE. Convergence, he said, will result in a comprehensive SASE solution that should provide security for IoT devices as well as for access by users in geographically dispersed locations.

Customers increasingly rely on Conversion/4

Customers benefit from fast and secure transformation through partnership between All for One and SNP

All for One Group, an SAP partner in Central Europe, is pleased to announce its fiftieth Conversion/4 customer. In cooperation with SNP, a provider of software for digital transformations, automated data migrations and data management in the SAP environment, All for One offers the S/4 Hana transformation as a service at a fixed price. The model and technology are convincing more and more customers, whose changeover to the future-capable ERP system is much faster and more secure with the solutions. In the meantime, every second All for One customer opts for the Conversion/4 subscription model.

The key criteria are time and resource savings and a high level of security. The offer, which is unique on the market, consists of four modules and includes the initial migration to S/4 Hana, infrastructure and operation, support and upgrades, as well as process optimization and transformation over the entire term. In this way, the approach ensures companies' ability to innovate and sustainable business success beyond the conversion.

“Customers want an all-round worry-free package for their SAP S/4 Hana transformation.“

Michael Zitz,
Co-CEO and Spokesman of the Management Board, All for One

The customer's individual roadmap is defined in advance in so-called Conversion/4 Discovery workshops. This offers customers a secure and transparent project process right from the start. "The journey to SAP S/4 Hana represents a tour de force for many customers. With the CrystalBridge software, we offer these customers many options to make the journey easier," says Gregor Stöckler, COO at SNP. "The fiftieth Conversion/4 customer shows how strong our partnership is." 

Orianda is now "a Valantic company

The digital consulting, solutions and software company Valantic continues its growth course and welcomes the SAP consulting house Orianda Solutions as a new family member.

Orianda, a company headquartered in Tägerwilen on Lake Constance in Switzerland, has expertise in strategic consulting and technical implementation of SAP asset management solutions for asset-intensive industries such as the railroad industry, pharmaceutical/medical technology and consumer goods. In addition to its headquarters in Switzerland, Orianda maintains two additional offices in Germany and Austria. "We want to implement digital transformation to perfection and create strategic competitive advantages for our customers," emphasizes Ewald Rehm, founder and CEO at Orianda.

Orianda's long-standing customers include the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), BLS, the Rhaetian Railway (RhB) and the technology company Bachem. Orianda Solutions is one of the consulting firms in SAP Asset Management in the DACH region and combines end-to-end processes in Asset Lifecycle Management with technological expertise. More than 100 Orianda experts advise and support customers in Switzerland, Germany and Austria in a wide range of asset-intensive industries and create strategic competitive advantages for them.

“By joining forces with Orianda, we are expanding our footprint in Switzerland vis-à-vis asset-intensive companies.“

Karsten Ötschmann,
Managing Director and Partner, Valantic

For almost 23 years, Orianda has been a strategic partner of SBB in the area of asset management with SAP. Through functioning and IT-supported maintenance, SBB is a front-runner in Europe in terms of reliability and punctuality. This is achieved, among other things, by maximizing asset availability and knowing the asset condition over the entire lifecycle. ÖBB saves time and costs through sustainable asset lifecycle management. At ÖBB, almost a quarter of the staff will retire in the coming years. With optimized resource deployment planning and the digitalization of processes, Orianda supports ÖBB in mastering this challenge.