Tectura Buy To Add ERP Expertise

ESG brings with it more Axapta and Navision expertise, including 300 professionals trained in those ERP products. ESG staffs 14 offices in Asia, with a presence in Beijing, Kowloon, Shanghai, Mumbai, Jakarta, Tokyo, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Taipei. Terms of the deal were not disclosed

Eric Fung, CEO of ESG, will lead Tectura's Asian business. Both Tectura and ESG are Microsoft Gold Certified Partners with extensive MBS experience.

The news came just a week before Microsoft's annual Worldwide Partner Conference in Minneapolis, where the vendor outlined its strategy and go-to-market plans for the upcoming year. Observers have said Microsoft needs to strengthen the breadth and reach of its MBS channel to boost sales of its multiproduct base.

Currently, MBS fields the Great Plains, Solomon, Axapta and Navision ERP lineups, as well as Microsoft CRM. To date, the group—comprising the fruits of the Great Plains and Navision acquisitions—has not seen the profits Microsoft would like, although MBS CEO Doug Burgum repeatedly notes that Microsoft's business applications growth has outpaced that of its rivals. "There is no other U.S.-based MBS partner in Asia," said Tectura CEO Terry Petrzelka. "This is about creating the first global midmarket and upper-midmarket global systems integrator. The Accenture/IBM Global Services/BearingPoint of the mid- and upper-midmarket."

Tectura, Redwood City, Calif., has been on a tear, buying more than a dozen companies in the past few years. The vendor expanded its European coverage last year with the buy of Aston Business Solutions with presence in Europe and Australia, as well as North America. That buy brought total head count up to 1,000. With ESG in the fold, Tectura now hopes to increase its global workforce to 2,000 employees by 2007.

Tectura is not alone in its quest for growth. Last summer, EYT merged with ePartners Solutions in the MBS space, and Interlink acquired Equarius.