Avanade has snapped up Brisbane-based integrator and e-business specialist, DCG, as part of its expansion strategy into the Queensland market.

DCG will effectively become the Queensland branch of Avanade, as well as hosting its national centre for offsite development and maintenance.

“We have a very similar cultural and business model, which meant we could get into the Queensland market a lot quicker than we could do otherwise,” Avanade managing director, Mark Chrimes, told ARN. “DCG has the onshore delivery capability and we have the offshore capability in India and our consulting services.”

No redundancies were planned, he said. Rather, the company would hire more staff in each state.

Growth would be a key focus for Avanade over the coming 12 months. Chrimes said

The Brisbane office will complement Avanade’s offices in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne. The company is also looking at conquering the Microsoft Business Solutions space, and moving across the Tasman to New Zealand.

“We’ve been growing 20 per cent on average quarter-on-quarter for seven consecutive quarters,” Chrimes said.

Former DCG chief, Ben Shapiro, will head the new division. The company already has a strong track record in Web services and enterprise collaboration, such as its work with Safe Food Queensland.

The company developed a Web-based audit system that allowed the organisation to track and audit its entire supply chain. The .NET solution won both Technical Merit and People’s Choice awards at Microsoft’s .NET Spotlight Showcase last year.

Avanade hopes to extend the scheme to NSW and Victoria.

“It has potential applications right across Australia because you can track and trace all elements of supply,” Shapiro said.