Spark owned Qrious acquires consulting business to push data analytics services

Spark owned Qrious, the New Zealand telcos analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) business, has acquired WhereScapes data consulting division in a bid to up its data and analytics offerings.According to Spark CEO Jolie Hodson, the acquired data consulting division, Now Consulting, reinforces Sparks strategy of making data services a core offering. Data is fast becoming a business most valuable asset. When unleashed effectively, it provides a real competitive advantage, she said.A Spark spokesperson told ZDNet the acquisition was about leveraging Qrious existing strengths in data, analytics, AI, and data-powered customer engagement to expand upon the range of services it provides. Now Consulting, will operate under the Qrious brand and add data integration, engineering, and visualisation capabilities to the company. In the meantime however, Now Consulting will operate as it has been under Wherescape but it will be integrated into Qrious over the coming months, the Spark spokesperson added. With the acquisition, Qrious employee count will rise to over 170, making the company one of the largest data and analytics specialists in New Zealand.