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Generation-e Gobbles Paradyne to Serve Over 1,000 Australian UC Customers

By David Delony
Contributing Writer

Generation-e, a Microsoft Unified Communications (News - Alert) provider based in Melbourne, Australia, has announced that it has completed its acquisition of cloud consulting provider Paradyne.

“This is a great opportunity for both organizations to leverage synergies from this acquisition and address customer needs. By focusing on services and continuing high customer touch, this acquisition positions Generation-e for further growth,” said of Generation-e CEO Biagio La Rosa. “Paradyne has one of the largest installed based on Office365 in Australia so with Microsoft (News - Alert) about to launch Cloud PBX we now have potential to offer our combined services to both existing and new customers in mid-market and enterprise.”

The combine companies will serve over 1,000 customers once the deal is finally closed. The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. It will make Generation-e one of the largest pure-play UC providers in the market in Australia.

All of Paradyne’s existing stiff will move over to Generation-e, as well as its customers. The contact information for Paradyne will remain the same during the transition period.

It was the similarities between the two companies that helped spark the acquisition. Both companies are Microsoft Gold partners and have won Microsoft Partner Awards, CRN Fast 50 and Telstra’s (News - Alert) partner of the year awards.

It was Paradyne’s commitment to the cloud that made the company particularly attractive to Generation-e for acquisition. Paradyne was the first company in the world to attain Microsoft’s Cloud Accelerate Competency certification.

“The acquisition by Generation-e highlights the strength of the Paradyne business and recognizes our born in the cloud heritage. It is another important step toward Paradyne’s goals as we continue our focus on making sure all customers are ‘raving fans’,” Paradyne CEO Loryan Strant said.

There will be a continued role for companies like Generation-e. Microsoft is always making changes to its UC products and even though the software giant has a presence in Australia, the country’s isolated location gives it some distance from the headquarters in Redmond. Generation-e will focus on Sydney and Melbourne, adding local expertise to the mix.

Having good providers is still only one piece of the puzzle. A connection is only as good as the hardware, and a good unified communications headset  will make business conversations on UC go that much more smoothly for Generation-e’s and Paradyne’s combined customers, making sure all of the endpoints of a conversation are high quality.