Adelaide-based MSP Geek expands to Melbourne with acquisition

Adelaide-based managed service provider Geek has finalised its fourth acquisition with Melbourne's Valiant IT bringing over 20 new customers.

The acquisition gives Geek a presence in Melbourne, where the company sees a big market opportunity.

Valiant IT founder Daniel Warfe told CRN that the demand for services from the two-man team was growing fast and selling the business was the best outcome for the company and its customers.

"I think customers will see more benefit from having access to a larger team. Cybersecurity response situation timing is critical so you have got to get in and respond really fast and obviously a larger team is able to do it all quicker," Warfe said.

Warfe will continue on with the business as a "critical part" of the company's cybersecurity practice.

Geek consultant Jon Paior said: "For Geek this was a talent acquisition. We really wanted Daniel's labour, his brains, his ability to understand cyber security risks and needs.

"We will look after Daniel's clients the way he expects us to and leverage his skills in the cybersecurity space," Paior added.

He also said that Geek has been focusing on cybersecurity for small to medium businesses which "is under loved in Australia, especially in Adelaide".

Geek was founded in 2004 and its first acquisition was in 2010 when it acquired the 'SystemCare' managed services division of South Australia-based A1 Computing. The acquisition helped Geek to move into its current MSP model.

Two years later, Geek acquired another SA managed services provider Go I.T., which brought its entire client base to Geek and its current managing director Giovanni Tirimacco. In 2016 the company also acquired MyTek.

Geek was highly commended in the Trusted Systems category of the inaugural CRN Impact Awards for saving the Civil Contractors Federation South Australia from a Cryptolocker disaster.

The company was also featured in the 2016 CRN Fast50 at No. 38 showing a 34 percent growth in revenue with $2.5 million in the 2016 financial year.