Better User Experience Lies At Heart Of Merger Of Two Microsoft Partners

Two Microsoft channel partners have merged in a deal that combines a fast-growing consulting firm and a specialist in interactive design and enhancing the user experience.

Kansas City-based Valorem Consulting -- No. 18 on CRN's 2015 Fast Growth 150 list -- revealed Wednesday that it has acquired IdentityMine, of Seattle. Terms were not disclosed.

"The acquisition of IdentityMine further strengthens our ability to bring complex user experience and design solutions to market," Dominick Parretta, a managing partner at Valorem, said in a statement.

[Related: Fast-Growing Open Systems Technologies Scoops Up Design Consulting Superstar]

The combined company will have about 220 employees, with about 90 having come over from IdentityMine, according to Justin Jackson, Valorem's other managing partner.

In the statement, Parretta said both companies bring "deep user experience strategy" into the mix. In addition, IdentityMine and Valorem are two of 11 channel partners that are part of Microsoft's HoloLens program, which allows developers to do their work using the vendor's wearable holographic, headset-based computer.

Together, the companies will work with enterprise clients to "create holographic experiences in real-world environments that shape the future of business," Jackson said in the statement distributed by the company.

In his interview with CRN, Jackson said Valorem is seeing opportunities in building and manufacturing businesses, where, for example, a three-dimensional model of a building that sits on a computer can be seen holographically through a HoloLens device.

Jackson said Valorem was seeing "significant upticks" in demand for tweaking technology that could enhance the end-user experience. Valorem couldn't add the skills itself, which is what led it to acquire IdentityMine, he said.

"Organic growth was going to be a challenge," Jackson said. "Looking at the opportunity in the marketplace, the only way we could hit that growth … was via acquisition."

At the same time, he added, the acquisition of IdentityMine helps Valorem in its pursuit of global growth. His company, with a "massive presence" in the Midwest, now gains a base in the Pacific Northwest's largest city, and adds offices in Kochi, India, and Herrliberg, Switzerland, Jackson said. In fact, about half of IdentityMine's staff works outside the United States, he added.

IdentityMine has a handful of notable customers, including automobile manufacturers Ford and Nissan, as well as Hallmark, the greeting card manufacturer and retailer. Valorem's client roster includes chemical manufacturer DuPont, consumer products manufacturer Procter & Gamble, and Post Cereals.

IdentityMine's co-founder, Mark Brown, will join Valorem in a key leadership role, while its other co-founder, David Meunier, has also joined Valorem as a strategic consultant, Valorem said in its statement.

"Valorem is well known for its expertise in [Microsoft] Azure and other cloud technology solutions," Brown added in the statement. "We found common ground in our similar approach to delivering amazing client experiences and cultural values which made this transaction possible. We are thrilled to join forces."