Geography, skills drive IT Services M&A for Presidio, Accenture
Presidio has acquired transACT Technology Solutions, a digital transformation specialist based in the United Kingdom, while Accenture purchased IAMConcepts in Canada.
Two acquisitions this week in the IT services sector emphasize geographic expansion and the augmentation of technology skills.
Presidio, a technology services and solutions provider based in New York, announced on Sept. 8 its purchase of transACT Technology Solutions, a digital transformation specialist with headquarters in London. The following day, Accenture said it purchased IAMConcepts, a Toronto company that provides identity and access management services. Presidio's acquisition grows its presence in the United Kingdom and Ireland, while the Accenture deal seeks to strengthen the company's ability to provide IAM offerings in Canada.
Initially, both transACT and IAMConcepts will retain their branding; however, they will eventually fully operate under the brands of their parent companies.
Presidio bolsters EMEA presence
Presidio's acquisition of transACT adds personnel in Dublin and London, where it had operations prior to the purchase. Fifty-five employees are in the U.K. and two are in Ireland, where food company Kerry is a key customer. The employees include about 20 technical resources and 13 salespeople. The in-country resources will help Presidio support its U.S. customers who have overseas operations.
"One of the big drivers for us was how we better serve our multinational clients," said Chris Cagnazzi, chief innovation officer at Presidio.
He noted that enterprise clients in New York, for example, often have locations in the U.K. and EMEA.
From a technology perspective, Presidio's existing business in the U.K. and Ireland includes managed services and digital services focused on the cloud. TransACT provides a network operations center that supports managed services, cloud services, including migration and cost optimization, and AV integration services, including conference room and collaboration offerings.
One of the big drivers for us was how we better serve our multinational clients.
Chris CagnazziChief innovation officer at Presidio
"They have a fairly good-sized, AI-enabled AV business unit," Cagnazzi said of transACT.
Presidio became acquainted with transACT through that company's AV business. Cagnazzi said Presidio had an AV opportunity and needed local resources. AWS introduced Presidio to transACT for that engagement, which led to additional collaboration with clients, he noted. Both companies are AWS partners.
Working together revealed that transACT was "closely aligned to our vision, our strategy and our culture," paving the way for the acquisition, Cagnazzi said.
Accenture adds to cybersecurity acquisitions
Accenture's purchase of IAMConcepts is the latest in a series of 22 deals it has made in the cybersecurity sector since 2015.
Harpreet Sidhu, Accenture's Americas cybersecurity lead, said the company was attracted to IAMConcepts' services and expertise in critical infrastructure industries such as financial services, power utilities, mining and transportation.
IAMConcepts also offers several specializations that will strengthen Accenture's IAM skills within generative AI, Sidhu noted. Those include "enhanced identity governance and administration" capabilities for managing complex identity ecosystems that include non-human identities given to AI agents, he said.
Sidhu also cited IAMConcepts' advanced privileged access management for securing high-value targets and customer identity, as well as access management for protecting customer identities and providing secure access to digital services.
Accenture and IAMConcepts hadn't worked together prior to the acquisition, but Sidhu noted a "strong positive overlap" between the companies' clients and ecosystem partners in the IAM market.
Customers are focusing on cybersecurity, AI and cloud. Channel partners have acquired skills in those areas in recent deals.
Synergy and IT services M&A plans
Cagnazzi, meanwhile, cited potential synergy in the transACT deal around Presidio's contact center technology and its Human AI (HAI) software development lifecycle platform.
As for future acquisitions, Cagnazzi, who oversees Presidio's M&A activity, said the company will look for additional deals that expand the company in particular geographic regions. That might mean pursuing add-on acquisitions in areas where Presidio already has a go-to-market operation, he said. Acquiring companies with in-demand skills or vertical market expertise is another potential direction, he added.
Presidio has also acquired companies with a technology platform focus in recent months. In Nov. 2024, the company purchased a majority stake in Contender Solutions, a ServiceNow partner. In October of that year, Presidio acquired Kinney Group, which specializes in Splunk.
Cagnazzi explained that such deals, which involve introducing a new technology, require time for proper integration, particularly to ensure that the sales team is up to speed with the go-to-market strategy. For that reason, Presidio will likely hold off on additional technology platform-driven transactions until those companies are absorbed, he added.
Customers are focusing on cybersecurity, AI and cloud. Channel partners have acquired skills in those areas in recent deals.
