Manx Telecom and Intelligence Limited, a leading software and IT advisory company based on the Island, have formed a strategic alliance, a move which both companies say will create a new and innovative force in the Isle of Man telecoms and IT marketplace. Making the announcement, Manx Telecom and Intelligence explained that the new partnership will mean that customers will have access to an ever-increasing range of innovative products, derived from both company’s complementary product sets. Both companies have already pinpointed a number of high profile opportunities and projects on which they will collaborate, and say they expect to make more announcements soon. Announcing the news, Manx Telecom CEO, Mike Dee, said, “Forming a strategic alliance with Intelligence Limited brings together two companies with complementary skills and experience, particularly in the growth technologies of the future such as virtualisation, cloud-based technology, plus hosted and managed services. We believe that, together, we can bring something new, innovative, and powerful to the marketplace; offering a wider range of integrated services to our customers in the Isle of Man and elsewhere.” Commenting for Intelligence, CEO, Steve Woodford, said, “This move reflects the rapid changes taking place in every business sector, and in technology itself. Today, convergence across IT and telecoms is increasingly on the agenda for CEOs, management teams and owners of every business sector. We are moving to an interconnected world; a world in which the digital revolution requires new responses from new types of companies, or groupings of companies. In the end, of course, it’s all down to meeting customers’ needs. Increasingly, customers want a total solutions provider for their business systems; that’s what our partnership will be providing, and we will be doing so with an unrelenting focus on driving down costs and delivering more value to all our customers.” For the Isle of Man itself, both Manx Telecom and Intelligence say their strategic alliance will create a new force for attracting businesses to the Island. Commenting, Mike Dee said, “Together, Manx Telecom and Intelligence offer something special to companies thinking of locating their operations either actually, or virtually, on the Island. We plan to take a high profile and very proactive stance to attracting new companies to the Island, and anticipate working very closely with the IOM Government in its increasingly successful efforts to promote the Island as an international business centre, and to attract inward investment.” Summing up, he said, “One of the attractions for both Manx Telecom and Intelligence in making this move is that we agree about what the future looks like – and how best we can take advantage of the opportunities it will bring for our customers, our staff, and for the Isle of Man as a whole.” Ends