In what can be described as a “curious move” Hitachi Solutions America, Ltd., the vendor’s services arm, has acquired Calgary-based CDN Top 100 Solution Provider Ideaca.
The acquisition was made through Hitachi’s Canadian subsidiary Hitachi Solutions Canada for an undisclosed amount. Hitachi is saying that the Ideaca acquisition will better position the company to meet the needs of its Canadian client base and should expand its services offerings.
This deal my mirror the Softchoice acquisition of Unis Lumin, which was made for many reasons; one being the acquisition of hard to find talent. Hitachi said that this deal also further increases its global market footprint with the addition of more than 300 highly-skilled resources for service delivery throughout North America.
Now Ideaca, established in 2000, has other locations across Canada such as Kitchener, Edmonton, Toronto, and Vancouver that deliver solutions to more than 350 clients. Currenlty, Ideaca sits at No. 28 on CDN’s Top 100 Solution Providers Rankings, up four spots from last year with a Canadian revenue range of $50 million to $75 million.
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Ideaca has expertise as management consulting with implementation and support services such as enterprise resource planning (ERP), business intelligence (BI), portals and collaboration, cloud computing, custom development and integration, customer relationship management (CRM), application infrastructure and mobility.
Mike Gillis, the COO of Hitachi Solutions America, said this strategic acquisition underscores the company’s commitment to meeting the unique needs of the Canadian market. Ideaca has proven leadership and a reputation for delivering benefit-driven solutions and they were ideal for Hitachi’s expansion plans.
Gillis added that Canada is a key geography for the company because of its strong business outlook and talented and well-educated workforce. In April 2013, Hitachi Solutions opened a Canadian subsidiary to be more responsive to existing Canadian clients and to enhance its ability to win new business in Canada.
With this acquisition, Ideaca will become part of Hitachi Solutions Canada, Ltd. and will be operating under the Business Solutions Group.
With this transaction, Muneer Hirji will be appointed as president to lead the new entity and will report to Gillis.
Also with this acquisition, Hitachi Solutions is now a Microsoft Dynamics partner. Both Ideaca and Hitachi executives said that they will be working towards a smooth transition that will retain personnel and maintain business momentum.