Data#3 acquires f5

ASX-listed integrator Data #3 on Thursday announced it had acquired Brisbane Microsoft web development company f5, in a move it claimed would make it one of the software giant's largest partners in Australia.
 
The acquisition would create an expanded Microsoft Application Solutions business unit inside Data #3 and customers would benefit from integrated expertise in Microsoft applications, infrastructure, services and licensing, the company claimed.
 
'f5 brings six years of specialist expertise in Microsoft-centric applications development, particularly in the emerging fields of Internet, Intranet and web services software and in f5's Freedom Communication Server,' said Warren Wood, ex-managing director of f5 and now manager for Microsoft Application Solutions at Data #3.
 
In related news, Data #3 also announced it has discontinued its reseller agency with ERP software vendor SAP. The integrator was appointed in 1997 as one of the first resellers of SAP software to the mid-market.
 
Data #3 managing director John Grant said: 'With the release of SAP's mid-market products and the additional commitment the company would need to make as an application partner, we had to make a decision on where we could deliver most value to our customers and achieve the greatest return for shareholders.
 
'We believe this is as an SAP technology specialist and so we have discontinued our reseller relationship with SAP,' he said.
 
He said its decision cleared the way for the company to work with SAP application partners in the mid-market, an opportunity not available to it as a competitor for the application sale. 'In a way, being a reseller of the application limited our growth in SAP related areas,' he said.
 
At the company's AGM this week Grant said the integrator was targeting a full year EBITDA of around $5.7 million in 2004.
 
Data#3 shares were trading at $1.82 per share on Thursday afternoon.