Sydney-based IT services firm Aptus has acquired the local reseller of a CRM product that it will introduce to the Australian market for the first time.
Aptus has flagged plans to introduce the Navagate Agility CRM product to Australian after acquiring Navagate Asia Pacific, an ICT staff resourcing firm that also has an exclusive agreement to resell and implement the CRM product here for the next two years.
The Navagate product has a "large footprint" in the North American financial services sector, according to Navagate Asia Pacific senior advisor Tyrone Helm. He said that while customers leaned heavily toward the likes of Salesforce.com and Microsoft's Dynamics, he believes there is room for another product.
"What we're introducing is some competition," said Helm. "I think the market needs that. I think Salesforce.com has dominated. It may not necessarily be the best solution for every customer. We believe the [Navagate] product is strong enough."
Aptus group CEO Chris Spies claimed integration issues with popular CRM products are a common issue "even with the larger, more established CRM players”.
One-stop shop
Spies stressed that the CRM product was only one reason for the acquisition by Aptus, which specialises in cloud, security and mobility consulting and solutions. The buyout also gives Aptus an ICT resourcing operation, which has been Navagate Asia Pacific's main line of business in Australia until now.
"ICT resourcing I think is a really good business opportunity in Australia, because there's a lot of contracting and a scarcity of skills," Spies said. The acquisition also gives Aptus more firepower for internal projects. "We do a lot of client projects and it's always hard to find the right skills."
"Navagate has a big client base," Spies said. Companies using Navagate for staffing include KPMG, Rabobank, Tyro Payments and Altech amongst others.
"We can add a lot of value to those clients by providing supplementary services. Now we can offer more of a one stop shop to the Navagate clients which we couldn’t do before."
For Navagate Asia Pacific, the buyout means access to a "much larger sales force", said Helm. Navagate Asia Pacific is a separate business to the US-based Navagate Inc.
Aptus was founded by Spies in 1999 in South Africa before the company expanded to Canada and later Australia, though Spies said it didn't begin trading in Australia until 2011. He said the company has experienced "phenomenal growth" locally since then.
"It's remarkable considering we're coming out of the GFC," Spies said. "Up to the election people held back on budgets and decisions, and despite that we really made good inroads.
While Aptus positions itself as a global operation, Spies said the Australian business is independent and run from Australia with its own board of directors, as are the Aptus offices in other countries. The businesses are linked by a common group shareholding and the Aptus businesses in different countries share strategies. Aptus has offices in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne and a "satellite office" in Perth.
Aptus announced it was bringing on 29 staff in November 2012 after acquiring local IT company Directory Concepts.
-1.jpg&w=100&c=1&s=0)
.png&w=100&c=1&s=0)
