Cloudwise becomes part of Odin Groep

To strengthen its position in education, Odin Groep is acquiring IT service provider Cloudwise, one of the leading IT specialists in education. Cloudwise will continue its business operations with the current board and management, gaining full access to the group's facilities and knowledge. Odin Groep will explore with subsidiary Heutink ICT and Cloudwise where synergy benefits can be achieved with the intention to further develop ICT services for primary and secondary education together.

According to Arno Witvliet, CEO of Odin Groep, this move is fully in line with Odin Groep's growth strategy. Odin Groep enables IT companies to excel in their own market segment. To stay relevant, growth, scale and spread of markets is necessary. "Hence, our strategy not only focuses on organic growth, but also very explicitly on adding more companies within the group. Preferably companies that fit well into markets and existing portfolios known to us. To create maximum synergy, we look for organisations that operate nationally - or internationally -, have the same growth ambitions and - very importantly - a similar corporate culture. Cloudwise amply meets these criteria and will undoubtedly help Odin Groep further develop our activities in education. With this acquisition, we therefore expect to continue to innovate and invest in appealing solutions for education."

More impact on education
At 11 years old, Cloudwise is a relatively young IT company that built its services and the digital learning and working environment COOL based on Google Technology. That proved to be a golden move 11 years ago. The company was very successful in primary education from the start, Cloudwise CEO Jeroen Kuerble also knows. "Our passion for education and the emerging Google technology, partly due to the huge demand for Chromebooks, ensured that we could really offer education something new. Completely cloudbased and made for education. That innovation has taken us far. We've managed to attract more than 2,000 schools and hundreds of thousands of daily users." But getting bigger also brings huge challenges. "Our customers are getting bigger and more demanding, while innovation is becoming increasingly expensive and complex. Coping with these developments requires scale, growth and specific knowledge. And that is exactly what Odin Groep and Cloudwise both possess. By combining our passion for education, we can make more impact on education with ICT."

Innovation and reliability for primary and secondary education
Cloudwise will continue its operations under its own name and, together with Odin Groep, will explore how the education activities - summarised within Odin Groep under Odin Education - can be better aligned and eventually merged in the future. Rogier Borggreve, Director Odin Education, sees huge potential. "With Heutink ICT, we already have a company that has over 25 years of experience in IT services in education. In those years, we have learned one thing. You have to keep reinventing yourself, growing and professionalising to keep delivering your value for education. And you have to do so at an ever-increasing pace. Themes such as privacy, security, continuity and turn-key delivery are at the top of primary and secondary education's wish list. And that at competitive pricing. Until now, we looked very carefully back and forth to see which features were added. That results in solutions and services that are less and less distinctive. And that is not efficient. There are a lot of bright minds on both sides doing the same thing. By moving forward together, we can greatly increase our joint innovative strength. This not only benefits primary education, where both Heutink ICT and Cloudwise are based. In secondary education, too, we see many opportunities to realise a suitable portfolio together. I am convinced that together we can make ICT work even better for education."

About Odin Groep
Odin Groep is a leading Managed Service Provider in the Dutch market with a strong focus on managed services, cloud hosting and data centre solutions, security and consultancy. Every day, millions of people use online IT services developed, managed and hosted by Odin Groep. Odin Groep provides a solid foundation for delivering reliable and innovative solutions. The organisation has over 650 employees, has offices in Hengelo, Vianen and Georgsmarienhütte (Germany) and is well known in the market with the company Previder and the Odin Education companies Heutink ICT and Heutink ICT GmbH. Read more at www.odin-groep.nl

About Cloudwise
Cloudwise offers smart solutions for complex technical and didactic issues, enabling teachers and students to work carefree and safely in the cloud. The education specialist helps when it comes to infrastructure (hardware), platforms (teaching & testing) and gaining knowledge & inspiration (Academy). For over 11 years, they have been a partner of education and help every day to make digital education even better and safer. Read more at www.cloudwise.nl