Business

Merger creates new Northern Ireland IT security "powerhouse"

Outsource Group chief executive, Terry Moore (right) with Peter Leitch, managing partner of ANSEC IA. Picture by Kelvin Boyes.
Outsource Group chief executive, Terry Moore (right) with Peter Leitch, managing partner of ANSEC IA. Picture by Kelvin Boyes.

FAST-growing Northern Ireland IT security and services firm Outsource is to merge with the Belfast-based IT security consultancy ANSEC IA.

The deal will see ANSEC IA become part of the expanding Outsource Group, which already has offices in Antrim, Belfast, Cookstown, Dublin and Edinburgh.

Outsource Group chief executive, Terry Moore said the merger creates “a powerhouse” in security-focused IT managed services, with plans to grow the workforce to more than 100 people by the end of this year.

Headquartered in Antrim, the Outsource Group has been in business since 2000, offering a broad range of technology support and services. Last year it was named by Dell as a ‘Rising Star’ of 2021.

Founded in 2007 by Peter Leitch and Philip Sloan, ANSEC IA was recently flagged by Invest NI as one of the cyber security companies in the north to watch.

Terry Moore said his company is among the north’s fastest-growing IT managed services companies.

“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 said.

"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.

ANSEC IA managing partner, Peter Leitch, said: "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,” he said.

“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."