KPN buys into cloud with IS Group acquisition

By Business Cloud News

KPN has acquired IS Group, a small Dutch hosting and cloud services provider, for an undisclosed sum, reports Business Cloud News. The operator said the move will help bolster its business solutions portfolio.

Founded in 1996, IS Group offers managed cloud services and virtual desktop solutions to businesses in the Netherlands.

The company only operates datacentres in the Netherlands and claims annual revenues of roughly €25m, KPN’s primary market, and although the Dutch operator already offers some cloud services to enterprises it said the acquisition would allow it to expand its managed hosting capabilities with services like cloud-based workspaces for SMEs.

“Our business customers are increasingly asking for cloud-based services to support their growth,” Frank van der PostKPN has acquired IS Group, a large Dutch hosting and cloud services provider, for an undisclosed sum. The operator said the move will help bolster its business solutions portfolio., chief operating officer of KPN. “Together with IS Group we will be better able to service our customers in their transition to the cloud, with solutions that increase efficiency and flexibility, while allowing for rapid scalability.”

The move fits with KPN’s broader strategy of divesting its operations in other European markets – Belgium and Germany – to build out a broader portfolio of services in its home market of the Netherlands. The company has been fairly proactive at bolstering its cloud cred at the same time.

Last year KPN joined the Cloud Team Alliance, a partnership inked between Belgian telco Belgacom and Numergy, a French cloud computing specialist, which enables participating organisations to extend the coverage of their cloud services by sharing networks and technical resources that help each operator optimise their network architectures for cloud computing. Earlier this year the company also joined the newly formed Dutch Datacentre Association (DDA), which represents close to two thirds of the local datacentre and cloud sector.