In a major global services deal, the Japanese carrier NTT has announced it is offering 2.1 billion pounds or $3.2 billion to acquire Dimension Data, the South Africa-based consulting firm and systems integrator.
Dimension Data has been one of the leading services firms in the VOIP/UC market, and a close partner of Microsoft in OCS/CS 14 installations. They're also a major Cisco partner.
The above-linked WSJ article notes that NTT plans to keep DiData as a separate unit after the acquisition, so it remains to be seen whether the deal will create major changes for DiData customers.
In the press release, NTT and DiData officials both stressed cloud computing as a focus for the merged entities. Quoting Jeremy Ord, Executive Chairman of Dimension Data:
Together, NTT and Dimension Data define a new industry standard for IT service quality, delivery, and support. NTT’s network carrier capabilities and assets coupled with Dimension Data’s global system integrator expertise create an incredibly powerful and unprecedented combination of capabilities and skills. The combined companies will hold a strong competitive position serving global corporations’ moving to managed infrastructure services and cloud computing.
For a little more background on DiData, here's an interview I did with Mitchell Hershkowitz of Dimension Data at VoiceCon Orlando 2010 in March:
