ePartners arrives in Australia

Source: Nadia Cameron, arnet.com
Texas-based Microsoft Dynamics channel partner aims to snatch up marketshare in the mid-market and tier-one customer space.

Texas-based Microsoft business solutions integrator, ePartners, has kicked off its Australian operations as part of plans to build up its international might.

The company is looking to acquire the local front-end ERP customer business of Microsoft gold partner, GrapeCity, and is headed up by new Australian CEO, Stephen Madeisky. It has a presence in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Marketing manager, David Giang, said ePartners saw the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia, as a growing and maturing market.

The company also opened three offices in China in July and will look to New Zealand shortly.

ePartner specialises in Microsoft's Dynamics AX and CRM business platforms. Madeisky said customers were looking for a partner that could provide international solutions around business platforms regardless of country.

"We service lots of global companies with a presence in Australia as well as Asia. Companies don't want to have different partners in each country - they are looking for consistency," Giang said. "We work closely with Microsoft and really want to make an impact in Australia."

GrapeCity could provide resources and products to ePartners as a "partner behind the partner", Madeisky said.

Giang said ePartners was aiming at the upper mid-market and tier-one customer space. Key verticals include automotive, manufacturing and warehousing. Several multinational customer wins wouldl be announced shortly, he said.

ePartners has about 20 staff and aims to double its headcount in the next year. Madeisky said further acquisitions were also planned.

"We have a dual strategy: to employ people with strong, industry experience who can chase new business. We're also looking for acquisitions which bring us strong industry skill sets," he said.

Madeisky cited rapid consolidation within the software vendor community as well as increased investment by mid-market customers into business-oriented technologies.

This was putting more focus on integrated applications, he said.

"We're seeing many of the larger players, such as Microsoft and Oracle, coming into this market to give customers a stable platform," Madeisky said. "The days of people doing RFPs and only looking at functionality are fast coming to an end: customers need these solutions to be around in 5-10 years' time and support new technologies as they are introduced.

"The longevity Microsoft brings to the ERP market means we can build something substantial. We're trying to push a total business solution that is all threaded together, which makes for a more stable product."