IVT Systems acquires Cisco silver partner Pepperstorm

Malaysian professional services and training company IVT Systems has acquired Melbourne-based Pepperstorm, a specialist integrator and trainer in unified communications and wireless.

Pepperstorm was a Cisco silver partner and was rated the number one Cisco trainer in Australia by Metrics that Matter. The 20-person integrator has clients in higher education, manufacturing and retail, including the Good Guys retail chain.

IVT Systems, formed from ex-Dell staff, has 75 employees in offices in Penang, Singapore, Australia, China, Thailand and Korea, Japan and India.

Pepperstorm's experience with Cisco would complement IVT Systems' strength in storage with Dell and EMC, said Simon Penny, managing director of IVT Systems.

The integrator would use the newly combined skillsets to push Cisco's Unified Computing System (UCS) to its data centre customers, said Penny.

We want to use Pepperstorm's skills in Cisco to take that into the region," said Penny.

"We're stoked [about the acquisition], we really are," said Pepperstorm general manager, Stuart Sharman. "It's a different approach now as these new owners are investing in the organisation to grow."

Sharman, who was promoted from sales manager to oversee integration between the two companies, said IVT Systems' experience in the data centre would bring new opportunities.  

"This takes us away from just doing unified communications, security and wireless. Every single customer that we talk to, if they're not doing something in the data centre, they are about to," said Sharman.

Pepperstorm had been unable to service the trend towards virtualisation and the accompanying reduction in servers and power consumption. "We now have a solution to address that," said Sharman.

Pepperstorm's managing director sold his 80 percent stake and has returned to his home country, Germany.

Pepperstorm had a turnover of $10 million, said Sharman. "Together it's going to be $30 [million]."

IVT Systems will retain the Pepperstorm brand and use the acquisition to establish its presence in Australia.

IVT will be looking to qualify as a gold Cisco partner within the year, said Sharman.