The merger of two Northern Ireland IT companies will see the creation of 30 jobs by the end of this year and form a security-focused IT managed services “powerhouse”, the new group’s founders have said.
Outsource Group and ANSEC IA, both based in Antrim, said they plan to increase headcount to 100 on the back of “aggressive growth plans” following the announcement of the tie up, up from 70 currently.
Founded in 2000, Outsource Group is focused on IT support for customers across the UK and Ireland and said it had been increasing its work in the security side of the sector over the last few years.
ANSEC IA, founded in 2007 by its Managing Partners, Peter Leitch and Philip Sloan, is an IT security consultancies, working with public and private companies across the globe.
The move comes as Northern Ireland’s global cybersecurity prowess continues to grow, with a number of inward investors setting up shop in the province alongside an increasing number of indigenous companies.
Terry Moore, CEO of Outsource Group, said he sees significant potential for cyber security in the future.
“Our merger with ANSEC IA and the exceptional security skills and expertise they bring will allow us to accelerate that growth and offer a truly market-leading cyber-security suite of services and solutions. I have no doubt that the combined experience and skills of both companies will deliver the leading powerhouse and go-to group for security-focused managed services.”
Peter Leitch is one of the managing partners at ANSEC IA and said that by working with Outsource Group it had found a partner.
“It became clear to us very quickly that they also understand why information security needs to be the backbone of all things IT,” he said. “They understand that security is about more than just IT or a range of products; it should be at the core of every organisation and inherent to every business process.
“We believe that ANSEC IA both complements and adds huge value to the OS group and will help take the OS Group to the next level in terms of offering world-class, enterprise-level, security-focused services to a wider range of customers across the UK and Ireland.”