Sword UK employs 430 staff and more than 100 contractors with primary locations in Aberdeen, Glasgow, London, Houston, and Rijswijk - to which it will now add Ping’s offices in Glasgow, Bellshill and Aberdeen.

Ping is a systems integrator & managed service provider operating from a purpose-built office that features a bespoke, 24×7 Network Operations Centre (NOC). Having worked in the industry for many years, the Ping team felt strongly that the Scottish market deserved a more focused solutions provider with quality engineers that, crucially, would be based locally.

The deal, for an undisclosed sum, should let Sword offer its clients a “complete range of solutions” - adding to its existing work on data insights, digital transformation and software development. Ping forecasts revenues of about €13m for 2022.

As an organisation with engineering expertise certified to Cisco CCIE level, Ping design, supply, implement and provide the ongoing support and management of networking solutions across a global customer base spanning all major market verticals including Energy, Financial Services Education, Public Sector, Manufacturing and Construction. This is enabled by holding key manufacturer Partnerships with best-of-breed organisations such as Cisco (Gold Partner) & Palo Alto Networks.

Both parties are delighted about the possibilities this relationship brings. In terms of the breadth and depth of support offered to the combined customer base and the innovation that can be delivered in our industry sectors, Ping’s experienced team of engineers offer exceptional levels of skill for client’s demands and are experts in their field with market-leading experience and accreditations.

Dave Bruce, CEO of Sword UK, said: “I’m delighted to welcome the Ping team into Sword. This deal will allow us to deliver a more complete range of solutions to our customers. The Ping team has an exceptional level of skill and domain experience and is focused on delivering quality solutions – they will be a great fit within Sword. Our shared core values will ensure we continue to provide an exceptional result for our customers and the wider Sword Group.”

Terry Neill, business unit director of Ping, added: “Ping has a long-standing working relationship with Sword in the UK and is very excited to be joining the Sword Group. Our experience in delivering network and security solutions will complement Sword’s current service offerings. We are looking forward to furthering our growth within the Sword Group.”