Data Intensity Acquires Clear Measures

Complexity can cut both ways for MSPs. And when it comes to data management these days increased complexity seems to be driving customers to look for more outside help than ever. In fact, MSPs that specialize in data management are making acquisitions to increase the scope of their practices.

Case in point is Data Intensity, a provider of managed services focused on Oracle applications and related technologies, that today acquired Clear Measures, a provider of data analytics and database management services.

Data Intensity CEO Kirk Arnold says the acquisition of Clear Measures is driven by customer demand for services related to data analytics. Arnold notes that as the convergence of transaction processing and real-time analytics starts to gain momentum, the complexity of the application environment is only going to increase.

Given the current shortage of Big Data and analytics expertise in the IT world, Arnold expects that the expansion of her company’s services into this area will be a highly profitably endeavor.

Of course, part of the challenge is delivering those services in the shadow of Oracle, which continues to invest heavily in delivering its own set of cloud services. But Arnold says that one of the things that sets Data Intensity apart is that fact that it can support Oracle technologies regardless of where they are deployed, including for that matter Amazon Web Services and integration with third-party software-as-a-service applications such as Salesforce.com.

The bet that Data Intensity is making is that it can attract the people with the right set of skills for managing Oracle environments. Most internal IT organizations can’t compete with MSPs in terms of the salaries they can offer. As a result, when it comes to finding data management expertise many of them are going to be increasingly forced to look outside their organizations for everything from database administrators to data scientists.

The challenge, of course, is that Data Intensity is not the only IT services organization looking to acquire that kind of expertise. That means that for all intents and purposes there is a major war for IT talent going on in the channel, especially in areas such as Big Data analytics where demand is clearly starting to outstrip the available supply.

Of course, that’s also why MSPs just may want to start thinking in terms of dividing and conquering the IT market by more aggressively partnering with other MSPs that have complementary skills sets that not every MSP has the financial wherewithal to acquire for themselves.