Telstra seals $267m Versent deal to boost digital services

afr.com:

Telstra plans to use its $267.5 million purchase of cloud computing specialist Versent to sell more services to international corporate and government customers as Australia’s biggest telco strengthens its digital services.

Telstra confirmed on Wednesdayearlier reports by The Australian Financial Review’s Street Talk that it would acquire Versent after the Melbourne-based technology group was put up for sale.

Telstra wants to use Versent to expands the services it provides, including more cloud computing services 

Versent, which is owned by founders Thor Essman, Eddie Smith and James Coxon as well as its employees and investors, specialises in cloud management services, as well as data, security and identity services.

It has more than 500 employees in Australia, Singapore and the US and advises companies on “cloud transformation”, including logistics group Toll and building materials group Boral.

It also owns Stax, a business that works with customers of Amazon Web Services (AWS) to help them shift to the cloud computing group.

Telstra Enterprise boss David Burns said the company hoped to use Versent’s international operations to increase sales of “international and Australia-out digital transformation services”.

Technology analysts expect the Versent acquisition will strengthen Telstra’s relationships with AWS and in turn boost its enterprise business, which provides services to companies and governments.

Telsyte analyst Alvin Lee said the deal also gave Telstra access to a workforce with expertise in highly sought after areas of cloud, security, digital and data, helping the company play in the “increasingly competitive” technology services market.

The acquisition also positions Telstra as a “one-stop shop” for