ENSIM TO BUY TELEGEA

Ensim will announce this week that it has acquired voice-over-IP operating system vendor TeleGea. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Ensim, which made its mark as a provider of Web hosting software, previously had not been involved in the VoIP market; however, the acquisition comes at a key turning point, said Sandip Gupta, president and CEO. Increasingly, carriers are looking at ways to differentiate services and offering Web hosting in combination with other service elements is a key way to do that, he said. At the same time, many services turn into commodities faster than ever.

“Our belief is the service provider market is moving more toward selling bundled services,” Gupta said. “Over a period of time, these services become commodities. So they have to [differentiate] at a fairly fast pace.” He also said that as each service becomes popular, providers must ensure that differentiation is done with efficiency.

Additionally, the acquisition makes sense because both companies, while focused on different technology segments, are based on the desire of end users to outsource their telecom needs.

“More and more they're looking to have someone else host the infrastructure,” Gupta said. “It makes them feel and behave like a bigger company.”

Over the past five years, Ensim has delivered service to dozens of carriers with Web hosting software. However, that has evolved to include other applications. Likewise, TeleGea has seen its customer base become more interested in converged service offerings that use VoIP as leverage, according to Steven Domenikos, CEO of TeleGea.

The combined company also will rely on Ensim's existing relations with Microsoft and HP along with TeleGea's Sylantro and BroadSoft partnerships. “We think there's a great up-sell opportunity there,” Domenikos said.

After completion of the merger, which should happen this week, TeleGea will continue operating out of its Waltham, Mass., offices but will adopt the Ensim brand.