IBM UK has announced the acquisition of Logiq Consulting, an NCSC-assured UK cybersecurity consultancy with deep expertise in highly regulated environments including the UK defence industry, UK critical national infrastructure and the wider public sector. Logiq Consulting brings specialist capabilities spanning cybersecurity assurance, secure by design, secure systems engineering, digital transformation and secure managed services.

The Bristol-based consultancy was sold by Phoenix Equity Partners, which had invested in Logiq in June 2023 with plans to expand its DISX platform and enter new markets. Logiq extends IBM's cybersecurity transformation portfolio and adds complementary capabilities to SiXworks, an IBM company specialising in digital transformation for defence and public sector organisations.

Logiq developed and operates DISX, a managed, sovereign collaboration platform that enables government suppliers to securely exchange sensitive information with UK Government and Defence organisations while maintaining control over where and how that information is managed. The acquisition advances IBM's broader hybrid cloud, AI and digital sovereignty agenda, helping clients maintain control over critical data and technology environments as they adopt AI securely.

Rhodri Arrowsmith, Managing Partner for IBM Consulting in UK & Ireland, said: "Logiq Consulting brings highly specialised expertise in Secure by Design and cybersecurity assurance that complements our existing capabilities and supports our ability to help clients across the UK's most security-conscious sectors transform with confidence." James Morgan, CEO of Logiq Consulting, added: "Our expertise in Defence and Critical National Infrastructure together with IBM's global scale, AI and hybrid cloud capabilities, will enable us to deliver even greater value to our customers."

The structural driver is the growing demand among defence and critical infrastructure clients for digital sovereignty guarantees alongside AI adoption, which is pushing global technology firms to acquire specialist, government-assured consultancies rather than build equivalent trust credentials organically.

For the sector, this reflects continued consolidation of niche, security-cleared consultancies into larger global technology firms, as regulated clients increasingly demand combined AI capability and sovereign data assurance from a single vendor relationship.

Source: uk.newsroom.ibm.com / quantumzeitgeist.com / moneymakers.com