Managed cloud services provider Datapipe Inc. has said it’s to acquire U.K.-based rival Adapt, a company that sells services to help customers run Amazon Web Services (AWS). Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Adapt is one of a number of “managed services providers”, or MSPs, which offer technology services that make cloud platforms like AWS easier for businesses to use. MSPs are proving popular because, although AWS rightly wins a lot of praise for its powerful, pay-as-you-go offerings, their technologies are also extremely complex and difficult for non-techies to use. MSPs eliminate much of the complexity of using them, so businesses can focus on what they do best.

Datapipe’s swoop to acquire Adapt comes about 12 months after it bought a similar company called DualSpark, which was founded by former AWS staffers and provides a solution that makes it easier to move business apps from on-premises hardware to AWS’s cloud.

Today’s acquisition fits in with Datapipe’s strategy of positioning itself as a kind of “one-stop shop” for organizations that want to use AWS, Microsoft Azure and other public clouds, along with some private cloud or hybrid setups. In addition, Datapipe offers its own “Stratosphere” private cloud services.

“Our similar approach to guiding clients on their cloud journey makes the acquisition a natural fit for us and will increase our scale and service capabilities in the United Kingdom, and the broader European market,” said Datapipe CEO Robb Allen in a statement.

Datapipe is actually one of the oldest MSPs around, having first begun offering AWS-related services about six years ago. Today though it’s facing intense competition from other providers, including Rackspace Inc., which has targeted AWS and Azure with its “Fanatical Support”. Other big systems integrators like Accenture Plc. and Capgemini are also muscling into the space.

Datapipe recently made headlines when it announced it was opening a data center facility in Moscow, Russia, in order to help foreign enterprises operate and sell services in the country in compliance of its new data sovereignty laws.

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