Sydney's Agile Analytics buys training provider Excelerator BI

Sydney specialist consulting firm and Microsoft Partner Agile Analytics has acquired IT training company Excelerator BI for an undisclosed sum.

As part of the deal, Excelerator BI director Matt Allington joins Fast50 company Agile Analytics leadership team, while senior consultant Jason Cockington will lead a new training practice within Agile.

Founded in 2014 by Allington, Excelerator BI specialises in corporate training for Microsoft Power BI.

Agile Analytics chief executive Matthew Salmanzadeh said the acquisition was “a strategic response” to market demand and will fill an increasing gap in internal capabilities for many of the company’s clients.

“Data analytics is a recognised stable for most businesses, yet any data initiative and the value of the intelligence are very much determined by the initial scope, design and architecture. In other words, the quality of the output is reliant on the parameters of the input,” Salmanzadeh said.

“Regardless of how sophisticated a business is, it is difficult for internal teams and executives to keep up with changing technologies and, more importantly, what it can mean to an organisation.

“The acquisition of Excelerator BI will enable Agile Analytics to work with its clients in not just a technical and strategic capacity, but also in helping them to build internal capabilities that will shape their own data analytics future.”

Allington said Agile’s progressive approach to current market shifts and its agility to address resource gaps internally will position the company in good stead amid the uncertainty created by economic headwinds.

“Maximising company data has never been a ‘plug in and play’ situation and will always require a certain level of technical literacy."

"The increasing dependence on SaaS and PaaS-based Analytics solutions does not currently adequately cater for the complexity of the data, analytics and AI landscape,” Allington said.

“When executives and internal teams lose their grip on technology, they ultimately limit their capabilities.”

“This internal resource gap will only intensify with the emergence of AI and ML, and organisations will eventually be steered towards finding efficient solutions and partnerships.”