Quadrant, Beacon in tender congruence

CUSTOM software developer Beacon Technology and information technology consultants Quadrant Group have struck an agreement to jointly market their services and work on specific tenders.

This is the latest example of a growing trend of smaller WA IT firms forming such alliances.

Several groups have already signed memorandums of understanding in a bid to gain competitive advantage when tendering against multinationals for larger contracts.

Beacon managing director Glen Hunter said the firms hoped the alliance would boost their bottom lines.

“In terms of the partnership agreement, we’ve looked to increase our respective revenues by 10 per cent as a result of the alliance,” he said.

“In the early days of Beacon we did engage in consulting but chose to stick to the software side.

“We had a number of options and one of those was to become a consulting organisation and grow the business in that way, and the other way was to partner with another consulting firm.

“We were both finding that our respective clients were asking us to provide a wider array of offerings.

“We’ve spoken to a number of clients to gauge their reaction and it has been very positive. There is definitely a trend towards this.”

Quadrant Group principal consultant Craig Brown said while there was still a good market for smaller players, the trend towards strategic alliances was “a response to some of the larger players”.

Mr Brown said Quadrant’s reputation was predominantly in government tendering while Beacon’s reputation was strongest in the corporate and private sectors.

He said a strategic alliance would allow the firms to exercise their strengths across the board.

Mr Brown said the firms were already pursuing several opportunities through the Beacon-Quadrant alliance.

“There are a number of organisations that require a suite of services and where its is appropriate we will be tendering,” he said.

“There are more than a couple of opportunities that we’ve discussed.”

The signing of a MOU late last month marked an ongoing commitment by Beacon and Quadrant to forming non-financial partnerships.

In February Beacon formed an alliance with graphics and web firm Saga, part of which included Saga relocating to Beacon’s central business district premises.

Mr Hunter said the alliance with Saga would allow the groups to work towards developing opportunities in Sydney.

Mr Hunter said while the move was not intended to be a precursor to a merger or acquisition, neither party had ruled out such a move in future.

Also, in November last year, Quadrant Group signed MOUs with accounting firm MGI Bridges and IT firm Amnet. Under the terms of the agreement the firms will jointly market their services throughout Australia.

Quadrant Group was established in March 2000 and now employs a core staff of 13 permanent primary consultants along with a stable of contractors.

Mr Brown said the company had experienced steady growth that culminated in the firm moving to larger West Perth premises last June.

“We’ve had 25 to 50 per cent revenue growth year on year,” he said.

Beacon was established by Mr Hunter – a 2002 WA Business News 40under40 winner – and joint managing director Mark O’Donoghue in 1995.