Deloitte acquires Melbourne-based security specialist Zimbani

Deloitte has acquired security services company Zimbani to further bolster the consulting giant’s cyber security practice.

Founded in 2012, Zimbani specialises in security architecture and engineering, with vendor partners including NetApp, Splunk, SailPoint, Trend Micro and more. The company finished 15th in the 2017 CRN Fast 50 and also appeared in Deloitte’s own Tech Fast 50 list the same year.

Zimbani’s 50 staff will join Deloitte’s existing cyber security practice, while founders Rene Morel and Jason Paul will join the company as partners and chief operating officer Ben Smith will join as a principal in Deloitte’s cyber practice.

“Zimbani’s particular focus on security architecture and engineering has created a strong reputation in the cyber market,” Deloitte Australia cyber leader Ian Blatchford said in a statement.

“It is one of only a handful of providers in Australia capable of operating at scale and joins previous deals in the region as part of our significant investment in Asia.”

Zimbani adds to a number of other recent acquisitions across Asia Pacific, with splashing out for a number of companies based in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

Zimbani CEO Rene Morel said joining Deloitte would help the team scale across Australia and the Asia Pacific region.

“We help protect some of Australia’s most critical enterprises across the finance, energy, education and airline sectors. Now we can do that at scale and more rapidly,” he said.

“Our team is looking forward to adding its expertise to the Deloitte cyber practice, boosting its cohort of security architects, and bringing our cyber engineering and automation specialisations to the fold.”

“Together we will continue to help businesses build and embed cyber resilience across their processes and technology delivery. I am excited to be able to leverage Deloitte’s global cyber intelligence centre to bolster our clients’ operations to continuously detect and respond to emerging threats.”