PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--By integrating Ocean’s operations in its own activities, Orange Business Services is creating a new leader on the French and European markets – with over 100,000 managed vehicles. This acquisition supports a strong growth ambition on the European market and will leverage advanced expertise and technologies to accelerate the development of new solutions for connected objects.
Founded in 2003, Ocean became one of the leaders on the French market of fleet management and vehicle tracking solutions thanks to its vertical approach and innovative technology choices. The company, which currently manages 45,000 vehicles for 2,000 corporate clients, will become an operational unit of Orange Applications for Business – the digital services division of Orange Business Services specializing in connected objects, the digitalization of customer experience, Big Data and data analytics.
The merger of Orange's Fleet Management activities - launched in 2005 with dedicated Machine-to-Machine (M2M) offers and managing today over 60,000 vehicles - and Ocean gives rise to a new industry leader in the European market. The new entity will bring together 110 employees, including a technical and development team of over 40 experts, and will be led by Jacques Riviere, the current President of Ocean.
Internet of Things and M2M are key drivers of companies’ digital transformation strategies. Orange Business Services aims to provide support for this transformation and the acquisition of Ocean provides opportunities in a number of areas:
- To enhance its vertical expertise. Ocean has developed a unique know-how through specialized innovative solutions in different industry sectors. Ocean is the French leader in tracking solutions in the fields of Public Works and Construction and has developed advanced skills in other areas such as maintenance and troubleshooting, equipment rental and green spaces.
- To develop new fleet management services and more generally new solutions for connected objects, based on Ocean's new service platform, designed to integrate services related to the Internet of Things. In addition to fleet management, it will be possible to develop new solutions for monitoring non-powered objects (skips, tanks, agricultural equipment, machinery and building site materials, etc.).
For Ocean, this acquisition is an opportunity to join an international group, to support its growth beyond the French market and to benefit from its innovation capabilities and expertise in areas such as Machine-to-Machine and the Internet of Things.
"With the acquisition of such an innovative and powerful leader as Ocean, we are creating a new European leader in Fleet Management that will support the growth strategy of Orange Applications for Business on the connected objects and M2M markets. Through these advanced technologies, companies managing fleets of vehicles or equipment can leverage huge benefits that will facilitate their digital transformation and develop new processes and business models," said Thierry Bonhomme, Executive Director of Orange Business Services.
"The project with Orange, which is based on the technical platform recently developed by Ocean, will give us the opportunity to pursue our growth by building on our core success factor: a unique organization and development model," added Jacques Riviere, President of Ocean.
Fleet management and vehicle tracking is now one of the most advanced sectors in the field of M2M and connected objects, and one of the pillars of the Orange Group's growth strategy. By 2018, Europe will represent a potential market of 35 million company vehicles, among which more than 20% will be equipped with a fleet management solution1.
Orange Business Services is a leader of applied M2M solutions in France with over 1.3 million connected objects in the areas of smart cities, healthcare, transport, etc. Present on the entire M2M value chain (connectivity, development, integration and management of applications and platforms for connected objects), Orange Business Services has been positioned in 2014 in the Leader Quadrant in the first edition of Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Managed M2M Services.
About Orange Business Services
Orange Business Services, the Orange branch dedicated to B2B services, is not only a telecom operator, but also an IT solutions integrator and applications developer in France and around the world. Its 20,000 employees support companies in all areas of their digital transformation: mobile and collaborative workspaces; IT/cloud infrastructure; fixed and mobile connectivity; private and hybrid networks; applications for Internet of Things, 360° customer experience and Big Data analytics; and cybersecurity thanks to dedicated experts and infrastructure to protect information systems. More than 3,000 multinational organizations and 2 million SOHOs, enterprises and local authorities in France rely on Orange Business Services as their trusted partner.
Learn more at www.orange-business.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and our blogs.
Orange is one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators with annual sales of 39 billion euros in 2014 and has 156,000 employees worldwide at 31 December, 2014. Orange is listed on the NYSE Euronext Paris (symbol ORA) and on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol ORAN).
Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material are trademarks of Orange or Orange Brand Services Limited.
1 Source - Berg Study - Fleet Management in Europe – October 2013
