Leading cloud company The Instillery and nationally renowned managed IT and security services provider Origin have agreed to merge.
The Instillery established a presence in the Bay of Plenty and the Waikato last year. The merger with Origin was aimed at creating a unique, future-focused provider of cloud, automation, connectivity and security professional and managed services for Kiwi midmarket, enterprise, local and central government organisations, the companies said.
The combined organisation will retain The Instillery brand, with 200 staff across the country, is was expected to deliver more than $40 million in revenue.
Mike Jenkins, chief executive officer and founder of The Instillery, will continue to lead the newly formed company. Origin’s chief executive officer and founder Michael Russell will join the executive team of The Instillery as chief sales officer.
The company founders said the merger represented one of the most significant M&A events for the kiwi tech sector in a decade and would establish The Instillery as a genuine Tier 1 ICT provider.
The merger was a statement of intent to lead in the cloud revolution, which had well-documented benefits of cloud technologies, while also ensuring the security and protection of critical data, said Jenkins.
Disruption and opportunities
Emerging technologies led by cloud and automation continued to disrupt and create new opportunities, he said.
“The tech sector here has been screaming for change and a genuine alternative option to partner with. Trust and confidence – information security – have never been more critical to our clients as they embark on their cloud journey.”
The Instillery and Origin both come from humble beginnings. The Instillery was founded by Jenkins six years ago, from a co-working space in Parnell. Jenkins grew up in the Computerland era and honed his skills through a 14-year career working for Logical, IBM and Cisco on both sides of the Tasman.
The Instillery merged with Vo2 in July last year, which brought in extensive Modern Workplace, managed services and support capability. The Instillery is known for its public cloud and DevOps capability.
Origin was established in a West Auckland garage 20 years ago. The company has brought further depth to The Instillery stable with its managed services, private cloud and network experience. In recent years Origin has built one of New Zealand’s largest cybersecurity practices, providing a fully managed threat prevention, detection and response service to enterprise businesses.
“Trust and confidence – information security – have never been more critical to our clients as they embark on their cloud journey.”
– Mike Jenkins
Origin also has recent M&A experience following its acquisition of Optinet in 2015.
Jenkins said the merger meant the company could focus on growing in the right area.
“The merger is an exciting opportunity to take another step towards where our customers need us to be with the growth of cloud, leveraging the unrivalled experience The Instillery has in this area.”
Kotahi’s head of operation excellence Wayne Bloem said that, as an Origin customer, he was excited about the merger.
“The two companies combined will provide Kotahi with a key strategic partner that can not only support its environments and protect it through its security practices, but they can also now further challenge us on our cloud journey,” he said.
“We look for partners that can push us and drive us beyond our current capabilities. And with this merger, we now will have a partner that has a global reach in this space and can further drive Kotahi’s cloud priorities.”
According to Jenkins, most enterprises today utilised a hybrid, multi-cloud approach.
“Origin’s strength in security, network design and optimisation, combined with our agnostic approach to cloud, means that customers will get the proven formula, tailored for their business, irrespective of where they are on their cloud journey.”
Hamish Archer, GM Technology – TSB, said The Instillery had worked with TSB from the start of its cloud journey, helping build its first production systems, then automating their deployment.
“Keeping security in front of mind and having local skills is very important to us and has been a key part of the engagement with The Instillery,” said Archer. “The access to further depth and capability through the merger with Origin opens up further opportunities to grow what we do together.”
Jenkins said the newly formed company would address largely unmet demand in the enterprise arena.
“We know that large businesses, including enterprise, local government and central government agencies, are looking for a fresh, agile approach that allows them to move faster. ‘
“We’re excited about the immediate opportunity to scale to up to help more businesses innovate and realise the well-documented benefits of cloud.”
The new company will have offices in Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Napier, Wellington and Christchurch. The Instillery also delivers services for several Trans-Tasman and global clients and is eyeing expansion into Australia in the near future.
