Azorus, a Halifax company that offers customer relationship management software to universities and colleges, has signed a major partnership agreement with Tribal Group of the U.K., with the aim of using the British company’s large client base to support growth.

The two companies offer complementary services to universities, but Tribal has much deeper penetration in the British market, so the alliance between the two should assist Azorus in its aim of gaining critical mass in the U.K.

“They’re going to be able to assist us with growth,” Azorus CEO Stephen MacDonald said in an interview from Britain last night.

Venture capital-backed Azorus has developed customer relationship management, or CRM, software that helps higher education institutions attract and enroll students. It’s a lucrative market because universities in the western world are trying to cope with rising costs, fiercer competition and declining enrollment. Azorus, said MacDonald, helps universities to “do a better job of finding more of the right students.”

In the simplest of terms, Azorus’ job ends when the student enrolls, and that’s the point at which Tribal steps in. Tribal provides a student management information system called SITS:Vision, through which institutions and students can communicate throughout their college life. By teaming up, Azorus and Tribal can offer a seamless solution for students from their first enquiry about an institution through to graduation.

Whereas Azorus now serves four universities in the U.K., Tribal has a 65 percent market share in the British higher education sector, so the relationship should help Azorus gain British customers. The agreement extends beyond the U.K., and the two companies will work together to grow in such markets as Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

Peter MacNeil, the Director of Venture Capital at Nova Scotia Business Inc. said the deal comes “at a time when competition for students is at an all-time high, the cost of education has dramatically increased, and student enrollment is on the decline. The Azorus CRM software represents the missing link for Tribal and will allow them to compete on par with competitors like Oracle and Banner.”

Azorus now has clients in Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and one in Beijing. The company has raised $2.5 million from NSBI Venture Capital and $3.4 million from GrowthWorks Atlantic.