CUSTOM software developer Beacon Technology has formed an alliance with graphics and web firm, Saga.
CUSTOM software developer Beacon Technology has formed an alliance with graphics and web firm, Saga.
Under the agreement, Saga will relocate to Beacon’s central business district premises and the firms will work towards developing opportunities in Sydney.
Beacon managing director Glen Hunter said that, 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.
The partnership will mean closer collaboration between the two companies and is a result of Beacon’s ongoing working relationship with Saga during the past two years, Mr Hunter said.
“In working on application projects in the past couple of years we got to test the waters,” he told WA Business News.
“We’ve had an ongoing relationship and it became an obvious alliance.”
Mr Hunter said the partnership was designed to build on the strengths of both companies, which had approached e-commerce solutions from different angles – with Saga specialising in information and interface design and Beacon having expertise in back-end systems and applications.
“Internally, that [front-end useability] was something we were struggling with at Beacon,” he said.
Beacon and Saga were currently working on developing a new content management offering that would target large corporations, Mr Hunter said.
“Content management has traditionally been a bit of a cottage industry in Perth. However, we will build solutions on top of the applications of our partners [Microsoft’s Content Management System, IBM’s Websphere and Macromedia’s Contribute].”
He said a key element of the partnership was the integration of business processes and procedures.
There were also some value-adding opportunities for Beacon’s existing customers with regards to print design and production, which Saga also had experience in.
“We are synthesising our two methodologies at present,” Mr Hunter said.
“At this stage we are testing the market and refining our products and we will look at other opportunities at a later stage.”
Mr Hunter – a 2002 WA Business News 40under40 winner – and business partner and Beacon managing director, Mark O’Donoghue, established Beacon in 1995.
The result was a software company with a focus on custom software development and integration, boasting clients such as Rio Tinto, Wesfarmers Landmark, and CSIRO.
Founded by director Shaun Lelacheur Sales, Saga is a cross-media design and development company established to provide multi-disciplinary technology skills alongside the capabilities of a design agency.
“At this stage we are testing the market and refining our products and we will look at other opportunities at a later stage.”
