Top 100 solution provider expands through acquisition

Winnipeg-based solution provider Powerland took a major step to achieving its goal of expanding its service coverage across the Prairie Provinces with the acquisition of FACT Computers in Saskatchewan.

Powerland ranks No. 37 on the CDN Top 100 Solution Providers list up from No. 44 the previous year. Powerland is a full service IT solution provider since 1985 and has specialized in SMB and K-12 education markets. Powerland is HP Canada’s largest channel partner in Manitoba and one of Cisco Canada’s fastest growing partners in the region.

The company is calling the acquisition of FACT Computers, financial figures not disclosed, as a strategic investment in its expansion plans out West specific to the city of Regina. FACT Computers has been providing IT infrastructure and managed services to Saskatchewan-based businesses since 1989.

While this acquisition looks on the surface as an expansion for Powerland’s Western base, Ashley Penner, the CEO of Powerland, told CDN that it was more about servicing customers with more highly skilled people in Regina and Saskatoon along with customers in Manitoba.

Ashley Penner
Ashley Penner

“I am excited about developing a new customer base, but great people are very hard to fine and now we feel we got more with Fact who are great services company,” he said.

Retaining the FACT team was a very important aspect of this deal for Penner. “People by from people in the prairies and those people are the key. They are the face of the company to clients.”

Penner said the deal combines two great teams to create a single dynamic team of more than 100 employees to better serve FACT and Powerland customers.

All employees will be retained under this deal and the FACT leadership team will be integrated into the Powerland leadership team mostly on the technical side of the business, according to Penner.

FACT has a large managed services business and private cloud that Penner believes will augment Powerland offerings.

“In this market, they are interested in hybrid cloud and on-premise hardware and infrastructure. They want the ability to go to the public cloud and data sovereignty is important. We want to be able to provide them with data sovereignty. This is what companies in Manitoba and Saskatchewan are looking for,” he said.

Last year Powerland became a national reseller and service provider when the company opened an office in Richmond, B.C. Penner added that the company does have customers in Ontario and out east but they are clients with offices in the west.

 

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Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

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Paolo Del Nibletto
Paolo Del Nibletto
Former editor of Computer Dealer News, covering Canada's IT channel community.

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