Telstra to buy managed network specialist Bridge Point

Telstra will acquire Brisbane-based network solutions and information security specialist Bridge Point as part of an ongoing effort to bolster its network applications and services business.

The 14 year-old Telstra partner counts 75 employees on its books and services government and enterprise clients including Queensland Health, Transport and Education, as well as Suncorp, Virgin Australia, Tatts Group and BP, according to its website.

Bridge Point offers a range of information security, data management and networking solutions, and is expected to be run within Telstra’s network applications and services (NAS) unit alongside earlier acquisition network integrator O2 Networks, which Telstra acquired in January.

The NAS division grew by just under 18 percent in the last financial year.

“Both companies share complementary skills in advanced network and emerging technologies, which together provide Telstra with new market opportunities and extends our reach to new customers and geographies,” Michelle Bendschneider, Telstra executive director of global enterprise and services, said in a statement.

The Bridge Point deal is the latest in a line of acquisitions aimed at growing Telstra’s presence in the enterprise IT services market.

Last year the telco purchased unified communications integrator NSC Group, primarily for its contact centre offering, which was similarly brought under Telstra’s NAS business.

Telstra chief David Thodey has previously spoken of the telco’s “conscious decision” to propel NAS into a standalone profitable operation.

"So as you see us building our capability in call centres, unified comms, security services, the whole area around video conferencing, those businesses all need to be [independently] profitable, as well as wrapping around that core network,” he told analysts at a 2012-13 results briefing.

Telstra declined to comment on the value of the deal and when it is expected to close. Bridge Point did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.

A spokesperson for the telco said it was “definitely” the company’s intention to retain Bridge Point’s 75 staff.

Bridge Point is a reseller partner of Cisco, NetApp, Commvault, Blue Coat, RSA, VMware and Sourcefire technologies, among others.