HP to buy Synstar Plc

HP buying Synstar Plc

Consolidation of the UK BC & Services Sector continues

August 9th, 2004

Today the announcement was made to the Stock Exchange that HP intends to purchase Synstar Plc confirming rumours in the weekend press.

This purchase, valued at over £150m, will further increase the investment made by HP over the past two years and rivals the acquisitions of SG-RS by IBM earlier this year and SunGards purchase of Comdisco last year.

Up until a few years there was quite a choice of recovery centres available to business, but over the past few years we have seen Guardian, Comdisco and now Synstar being integrated within the far larger Multi-national, Multi-service vendors. This process of integration seems to be an essential part of the changing landscape of the BCM sector as it becomes not just an important issue, but a business critical one.

Currently the UK and European markets are changing rapidly and we believe these acquisitions are closely associated with the growth potential available in Europe as both Regulatory, Compliance and commercial issues highlight the need for far more organisations to invest in Best Practice Business Continuity Management.

While most of the UK Corporate markets do have some form of BCM planning in place, often these plans are relatively ‘compact’ in relation to the overall business, with the planners frequently having to compromise on the level of planning possible due to budgetary constraints. From research undertaken earlier this year we believe that there is still huge growth potential within the BC sector, with as much as 100%+ growth possible in some segments of the market. The opportunity for growth does not stop there as the Middle Tier of Enterprise companies are still predominantly operating with little more than basic DR planning in place. These plans, focused on only a limited number of business critical systems, will undoubtedly be expected to mature into more effective and acceptable BCM programmes as time passes and more ‘senior’ Corporate Partners increase the pressure on Supply Chain Partners to ‘upgrade’ their planning and general commitment to BCM.

In addition, further sector specific growth is anticipated next year (2005) as the UK Civil Contingency Bill (CCB) will be coming into effect and will be likely to focus the efforts of the Public Sector on a Local and National level and both support and broaden the BCM message to many more organisations of all types and sizes around the UK.

Our Market Trends surveys are continuing to indicate that growth in the SME sector is continuing at pace and this is being driven by middle tier organisations, with the huge potential for the BCM growth in the SME sector still remaining largely untapped by most service providers as they struggle to come to terms with appropriate offerings. With this in mind, it looks like HP has found the ideal acquisition to drive further revenue growth and increase Service Capability in Synstar Plc, who are particularly strong in both Regional and Middle Tier services, with an excellent reputation for Customer Loyalty and Service Performance.

With this acquisition of Synstar HP will undoubtedly increase its ability to compete in the UK market across all sectors, as well as extending the total number of Recovery Sites and facilities available around the country to HP clients.

If you have any questions please contact Sara Mckenna or Russell Price at the Continuity Forum directly on 020 8993 1599 or info@continuityforum.org