• Huron Consulting Group (Nasdaq: HURN), a business consulting services provider, announced yesterday that it closed its acquisition of the US assets of ADI Strategies, Inc.
• ADI is an enterprise performance management and business intelligence firm that has been recognized as an Oracle Platinum Partner.
• Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. More than 100 employees from ADI will join Huron, with ADI president Mario Desiderio and certain members of his management team joining as managing directors.
• Huron last week announced Q1 revenue up 16.9% over last year and reaffirmed its revenue guidance for 2016 at $720 – 760 million.
• Huron is also acquiring the international assets of ADI Strategies, with operations in Dubai and India. An agreement concerning those assets is expected in Q2 2016.

• Cloud Means Consolidation: The cloud transition is prompting significant consolidation among services providers, as existing relationships and accounts mean plenty of opportunities for cross-selling and other synergies. Earlier this year we saw Cognizant acquire KBACE Technologies to strengthen its implementation capabilities, while last year EPAM acquired Alliance Global Services and Virtusa purchased a majority stake in Polaris.
• Transition is Great for Partners: The cloud shift has been especially beneficial for partners offering complementary services, as they find themselves in demand by both OEMs and their peers. While Oracle has been especially active both directly and as an ecosystem, we’re seeing similar activity and interest among Microsoft Dynamics partners (particularly those offering Dynamics AX).
• Strong Leadership Differentiates in Competitive Space: ADI president Mario Desiderio is an industry rock star, and many key employees used to work at Rolta (a leading Oracle IT services provider with US offices in Chicago). A recognized history of performance is especially enticing to investors and potential acquirers.
• FANGO: Last year, the hot stock grouping was FANG – Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google. With Oracle up 8.6 percent YTD and boasting sustained strong cloud performance, it’s time to start talking FANGO.

For more information about this transaction, click here to read the press release.