BT puts up $196 million for INS

U.K.-based carrier is looking to expand its presence in North America

BT Group announced Thursday its plans to acquire International Network Services, an IT consulting and professional services firm.

"Coming on the heels of its BT’s acquisition of Counterpane in 2006, the INS deal demonstrates BT’s determination to penetrate the U.S. enterprise market and expand its service portfolio worldwide to better address the needs of enterprises,” says Jeff Kaplan, managing director of consulting firm ThinkStrategies.

“By combining Counterpane’s managed security services with INS’ network professional services, BT now can offer enterprises in the U.S. and elsewhere a combination of on-site consulting and remote management services to address their needs,” Kaplan says.

To continue reading, register here and become an Insider. You'll get free access to premium content from CIO, Computerworld, CSO, InfoWorld, and Network World. See more Insider content or sign in.

BT Group announced Thursday its plans to acquire International Network Services, an IT consulting and professional services firm.

"Coming on the heels of its BT’s acquisition of Counterpane in 2006, the INS deal demonstrates BT’s determination to penetrate the U.S. enterprise market and expand its service portfolio worldwide to better address the needs of enterprises,” says Jeff Kaplan, managing director of consulting firm ThinkStrategies.

“By combining Counterpane’s managed security services with INS’ network professional services, BT now can offer enterprises in the U.S. and elsewhere a combination of on-site consulting and remote management services to address their needs,” Kaplan says.

BT says it's paying about 100 million GBP [British pounds sterling], which translates to about $196.3 million for INS.

As part of the deal, about 900 INS consultants will join BT’s 7,000-person global professional services team. Most of INS’ employees are based throughout the United States and Canada.

According to the London-based service provider, INS specializes in enterprise architecture and governance, business productivity, information risk management and infrastructure transformation.

"INS has a proven business model in the networked IT services space that we will replicate around the world,” said Andy Green, CEO of BT Global Services in a statement. “At the same time it significantly boosts our ability to supply world-class professional services to U.S.-headquartered corporations and increases BT’s presence in the key North American market.”

Read more about service providers in Network World's Service Providers section.