Atos acquires French SAP specialist Alia Consulting

Atos has acquired Alia Consulting, a French IT consulting firm specialised in SAP services to companies in the energy & utilities industry.

The move is part of Atos’ strategy to bolster its presence in the SAP market, which is one of the most important segments of the ERP consulting and systems integration market.

Founded in 2008, Alia Consulting helps large players and SMEs in the electricity, gas, water and waste treatment sectors with the design, implementation and maintenance of systems. The firm specialises in the SAP modules of SAP IS-U, SAP CRM for Utilities, FI / CA, SD, MM and Work Management.

As part of the deal, Alia Consulting will be integrated into the Worldgrid subsidiary of Atos – the firm’s division dedicated to helping utility and energy companies. Worldgrid provides a range of business and IT consulting, and technology services.

The move adds a team of 70 consultants generating revenues to the tune of €9 million to Atos in France, and deepens the firm’s capabilities in SAP, in particular in SAP S/4 HANA. Alia Consulting also brings a track record of projects delivered in Belgium and Switzerland to the global IT services giant.

“The combination of the two companies will create a leading provider for energy and utility companies delivering state-of-the-art expertise in billing and customer relation management implementations and solutions, positioning us as the leading transformation provider for utilities in Europe,” said Franck Chevalley, CEO of Worldgrid.

The move comes within a year after Atos in Germany bought X-Perion, another IT consultancy specialised in SAP services to the energy world.

Meanwhile, in the US, the firm’s growth ambitions are backed by a more active buy-and-build strategy. Yesterday, Atos purchased managed security services provider Paladion, and before that it acquired US data science consultancy Miner & Kasch (April 2020) and Chicago-based technology consultancy Maven Wave (December 2019).

The closing of the Alia Consulting transaction is expected to take place before the end of the year and is subject to the final approval of Atos governance bodies.