One of Ottawa’s fastest-growing companies has acquired a Toronto firm in a bid to expand its cloud-based services.
Data backup and recovery firm HostedBizz, which ranked No. 2 on OBJ’s list of fastest-growing companies last spring, announced last week it has reached an agreement to buy cloud-based service provider ITUtility.Net.
The Ottawa-based company offers a suite of cloud-based Microsoft services such as Exchange, SharePoint, Skype for Business and Dynamics for a monthly subscription fee, allowing customers to simplify their licensing charges and avoid the costs of purchasing and maintaining their own cloud or physical infrastructure.
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Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
HostedBizz co-founder Paul Butcher said the Ottawa company had been looking to broaden its service offerings and was introduced to ITUtility.Net’s founders by mutual business partners.
“The timing was good for them to look for an exit, so the stars aligned,” he said. “Any mid-size customer, they can run their entire business now on our cloud.”
The entire deal took just six weeks to complete.
“When we decide to do something, we get on with it,” Mr. Butcher said with a chuckle.
ITUtility’s founders won’t be staying on, but the company’s two Ottawa-based employees will relocate to HostedBizz’s downtown office, he said. Two staffers in Toronto will remain in the GTA, becoming HostedBizz’s first employees outside the capital.
“We do quite a lot of business in Toronto already, so having people on the street there will be very good for us,” Mr. Butcher explained.
Since landing in second spot on OBJ’s annual list thanks to impressive three-year revenue growth of 1,072.76 per cent, HostedBizz has boosted its headcount from eight to 15. The firm is doing more and more business outside of Canada – particularly in Great Britain, where the company now has its own cloud infrastructure.
Mr. Butcher said with revenue growth on an even steeper trajectory than last year, HostedBizz has only one goal when it comes to OBJ’s 2017 fastest growing companies list.
“We’re shooting for No. 1,” he said with a smile. “We don’t like being second – let’s put it that way.”
