New Signature Buys Imason, Linking Previous Microsoft Partner Acquisitions

New Signature, Microsoft's solution provider of the year for 2015, has expanded its Microsoft portfolio by acquiring Canadian application developer imason.

The acquisition of imason, also a Microsoft partner, will strengthen New Signature’s ability to provide solutions across the full Microsoft stack, according to a statement from New Signature, based in Washington, D.C. With imason's staff and locations across North America, the company said it can provide solutions from infrastructure to customized line-of business products.

Details of the acquisition, announced Monday, were not disclosed.

[RELATED: Super Microsoft SI New Signature Gets $35M, Names New CEO]

Imason, based in Toronto, will continue to operate under its current leadership team, according to a statement from the company. However, that team will report to New Signature CEO Jeff Tench effective immediately, and imason will operate under the New Signature brand.

New Signature helps businesses migrate to Microsoft's cloud technologies by establishing core infrastructure that’s needed for both scale and security.

The capabilities imason brings to New Signature will enhance the company's ability to build on The New Signature-designed infrastructure with applications and solutions that integrate mobility, Office 365, Azure applications and Dynamics CRM.

New Signature’s cloud managed services business can incorporate all those solutions and provide a 24-7 monitoring, patch management, and remediation services according to a statement by New Signature.

"As the IT industry continues its migration toward cloud technologies, customers are in need of custom line-of-business applications which allow them to operate in an efficient and effective manner." Tench said in the statement. "The combined ability of New Signature and imason will give customers a robust and comprehensive services partner to plan, build and operate these solutions.’

In April, New Signature received $35 million in private equity from Columbia Capital to expand its footprint in North America, with the hope of tripling the size of the business within the next two years.

In a previous interview with CRN, Chris Hertz, who co-founded New Signature, said he hopes the financial backing and the expansion that goes with it will help the company hit the $500 million annual revenue threshold within five years.

Imason is the third the company New Signature has added recently, following Microsoft partners CMS Consulting and Infrastructure Guardian, who, together with imason, were honored by Microsoft with its 2015 Canada Impact award for their combined efforts in transforming software solutions into fully managed services via Azure, Microsoft’s enterprise-grade cloud platform.

In the statement announcing the acquisition by New Signature, Imason's CEO, Jeff Dunmall said, ’Together we can now solve any Microsoft challenge our customers throw at us, and we are no longer limited by geography.’

PUBLISHED NOV. 2, 2015