Viatek snaps up Microsoft partner to grow beyond print

Reseller Viatek has continued its transformation from print to general IT with the almost $2 million acquisition of Geelong company Barwon Computer Solutions.

The latest buyout follows the purchase of Sydney cloud specialist CN Group in January, in a strategy that took Viatek "well and truly beyond being a Fuji Xerox reseller", according to chief executive Michael Doery.

"We are now a fully rounded business technology specialist - and our difference is that we’re entirely service focused."

The acquisition, completed 1 July, will mean BCS will be renamed Viatek ICT.

Brendan Calleja, Viatek's general manager for Victorian IT and the man overseeing the integration of BCS, told CRN that all 14 BCS staff would be retained in the deal worth "closer to $2 million than one".

BCS "was a good fit" for the company's strategy to "build a national IT business that complemented its existing ICT and managed print service businesses", according to a statement from Viatek.

Calleja told CRN: "BCS already has a lot of offerings that we do, so this [buyout] was about the geographical reach."

"With the BCS acquisition, Viatek [now] has technical and support presence in Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Traralgon and Melbourne. This gives us the ability to service clients anywhere in Victoria."

The ability to deploy local staff to clients was important to Viatek's support model, said Calleja.

"Our staff all work on a single platform for managing clients and tickets, so those clients don't have to keep explaining their business to each person who responds to a help desk query, or arrives on their doorstep to resolve a problem or pro-actively manage something," he said. "All of that enables us to give better service."

Procedural integration of BCS into Viatek would take 12 to 24 months.

According to BCS's website, the North Geelong company started out as a server and LAN deployment practice for SMBs in 1984 and the staff has "over 200 years combined experience".

Calleja said that BCS has "just celebrated their 30th year in business, which is a testament to their knowledge and skills and ability to service clients over the long term".