Nodco Client Profile – SXiQ

Client: SXiQ Digital

Business: IT, cloud computing, digital transformation services

Nodco services: corporate and commercial, property, litigation

Recent news: Company/business sale to IBM

Nodco team: Adrian Lynch, Mark Schofield and Peter Capuano

John Hanna and his team first came to Nodco in 2016 after their acquisition of what was then a traditional IT services provider and hardware distribution business that was enjoying success as a serious player in deploying end-user services for some of the biggest businesses in Australia. The strategic objectives of the acquisition team led by John Hanna was to acquire a business with solid a solid customer base and then transform the business into one of Australia’s leading cloud services and digital transformation firms focused on the mid-market.

At the time, it was a risk and significant capital and hard work was required to transform the business to equip it to service this fast growing area. The investment of effort and cash was rewarded, but not without challenges that John and his team steered the company through. Transformations by their very nature are never easy, when one is transforming an entire company’s brand, direction and services to market, this is essentially a top to tail transformation of everything the company does, this meant activating new, highly complex services, which meant transforming not just the skills of the people within the business, but it also meant transforming the very culture and DNA of the business, from being a transactional, simple service provider to becoming a highly-valued, highly-trusted business partner, deploying some of the biggest cloud transformation projects in some of the most complex, fast-paced IT environments in Australia. This was a herculean effort internally, but one that ultimately created a successful cloud services business that all it’s employees are proud to be part of.

The timing to shift to a digital and cloud focus proved masterful as the demand for these services increased during the pandemic. SXiQ’s reputation and strong customer loyalty caught the eye of several major national and international players and it was not long before John was fielding offers to buy the business.

The decision to partner with IBM was driven by a desire to scale their leading cloud services across Australia and New Zealand so that a broader range of the market could take advantage of SXiQ Digital’s services and to drawn in some of IBM’s broad capabilities and make these available to the mid-market. “It allows us to broaden the transformational capabilities we can bring to our customers, ensuring they can take their own digital transformation further and deeper,” says John.

For Nodco’s role in the transaction, John Hanna said: “Nodco’s deep understanding of our business structure, customer relationships and culture proved invaluable in managing a true win-win-win outcome for our stakeholders, our customers and our business. Given COVID challenges and time zone differences, the transaction was managed in a very professional and empathetic manner.”

It has been, and continues to be, an absolute pleasure to work with John and the SXiQ team as they have grown and evolved. We are excited to see what opportunities the IBM partnership will deliver the business and its customers in the years ahead.

For more information contact our Corporate & Commercial team for advice and assistance. Email us if you would like us to contact you.

Photo credit: IBM