One of Northern Ireland’s leading IT security and managed services providers, Outsource Group, and ANSEC IA, one of the most highly regarded IT security consultancies in the UK & Ireland, are to merge.

The deal will see ANSEC IA become part of the Outsource Group, creating a ‘powerhouse’ in security-focused IT managed services with plans to employ a workforce of over 100 people by the end of this year and aggressive future growth plans, locally and beyond.

Outsource Group, headquartered in Antrim, was founded in 2000 and offers a broad range of technology support and services to customers in the UK and Ireland, with an increasing focus in recent years on embedding IT security in everything it does. It was recently named by Dell as a Rising Star of 2021.

ANSEC IA, founded in 2007 by its Managing Partners, Peter Leitch and Philip Sloan, is one of Northern Ireland’s leading specialist IT security consultancies and has an exceptional reputation for dealing with public and private companies across the globe. It was recently named by Invest NI as a cyber security company to watch.

Terry Moore, CEO of Outsource Group, says that as a result of this merger the group will be the number one IT partner for businesses when security matters.

“Outsource Group is one of the fastest-growing IT managed services companies in Northern Ireland with a wide range of SME and enterprise customers. One of the areas in which we are seeing demand grow most quickly and where we see the biggest growth opportunity is in cyber security,” he points out.

“Our merger with ANSEC IA and the exceptional security skills and expertise they bring will allow us to accelerate that growth and offer a truly market-leading cyber-security suite of services and solutions.

“I have no doubt that the combined experience and skills of both companies will deliver the leading powerhouse and go-to group for security-focused managed services,” he adds.

Peter Leitch, Managing Partner, ANSEC IA added: “Over the Last 15 years we have exclusively focused on improving the security posture of businesses and public sector departments in NI, Ireland, GB and internationally. Working with Outsource, it became clear to us very quickly that they also understand why information security needs to be the backbone of all things IT. They understand that security is about more than just IT or a range of products; it should be at the core of every organisation and inherent to every business process. We believe that ANSEC IA both complements and adds huge value to the OS group and will help take the OS Group to the next level in terms of offering world-class, enterprise-level, security-focused services to a wider range of customers across the UK and Ireland.”

Terry Moore, right, CEO of Outsource Group, marks the announcement of the merger between Outsource Group, and ANSEC IA with Peter Leitch, Managing Partner, ANSEC IA. Together the companies will employ around 70 people and have plans increase that to over 100 this year.