London DevOps firm Forest Technologies acquired by FTSE 100 supplier ECS

London-based DevOps specialist Forest Technologies has been acquired by IT services firm, ECS.

Founded by CEO Andy Cureton in 2003, Forest Technologies provides DevOps and Continuous Delivery expertise to firms undertaking digital transformation initiatives to improve business agility and create competitive advantage.

The firm works as a consulting partner with key vendors including Automic, AppDynamics, AWS, Docker and Puppet. Revenues have grown five-fold in the last four years and the firm is on track to achieve record revenues again this financial year.

ECS specialises in undertaking complex IT infrastructure projects for many FTSE 100 companies.

Following the acquisition, Andy Cureton becomes managing director of ECS’s new Digital Practice, reporting to ECS Group chief executive Paul Thomson. All Forest Technologies’ 22 employees are joining ECS.

The focus for direct sales growth will be on large enterprise customers in the UK and Asia-Pacific via the Forest Technologies’s Singapore office. The company will continue to grow indirect revenues globally by building on its existing relationships with DevOps vendors.

Key markets for indirect growth include Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific.

Paul Thomson, group chief executive of ECS, said: “Our existing FTSE 100 customers are looking to ECS for direction and thought leadership as they plan, design and implement their digital transformation programmes.

“This acquisition adds important DevOps and Continuous Delivery capabilities to our highly prized advisory and IT transformation services, giving us a full complement of experience, skill and expertise to help our customers build competitive advantage.”

“Under Andy Cureton’s leadership we will grow the existing indirect channel established by Forest Technologies, while also building a stronger direct channel into large enterprises, which is ECS’s heartland.

“Our goal with the ECS Digital Practice is to repeat the success we have had since acquiring the IT security company Vacta in 2012 and making it the ECS Security Practice. Revenues for this practice have grown 10-fold in less than four years.”

Andy Cureton, Forest Technologies founder and CEO and now managing director, ECS Digital Practice, added: “Joining forces with ECS is great news, not only for Forest Technologies, but for the wider DevOps community.

“There are many large ‘Mode 1’ enterprises seeking ‘Mode 2’ levels of agility and innovation through digital transformation, and this acquisition will help make that journey more achievable.

“Specialist DevOps skills are hard to find, especially in these types of organisations. This drives demand for third-party support. But there are very few DevOps specialists with the experience of delivering these kinds of transformation projects for large enterprises.

“Choice has always been limited to a global, expensive consulting firm or a niche player that doesn’t typically work as a direct supplier. As part of the ECS Group, the new ECS Digital Practice will have the firepower to expand and fill this space. This acquisition will build upon Forest’s skills and experience, and see DevOps reach a wider audience.”