Cincinnati-based IT solutions provider Ascendum Solutions is branching out into the Phoenix area and will add 162 employees over the next three years. “Our plan is to grow quickly in this market, making it our second-largest site nationally,” Cynthia Hammersley, the company’s new western regional manager, told the Phoenix Business Journal. The company will open its western operations headquarters in Scottsdale on Dec. 2. Hiring will begin in January. It’s seeking software testing specialists, quality assurance consultants, project management consultants and software developers at salaries up to $110,000. Those hired don’t need specialized degrees: Ascendum will train and certify employees in-house. Ascendum offers consulting, application development management, infrastructure management, talent management and on-demand services. In April, it released “SharePoint On Demand,” a product to help companies struggling with cost or administration issues associated with Microsoft’s SharePoint platform. The tech market is heating up in the Phoenix area, with GM opening one of its tech hubs there, Apple building a manufacturing plant, Intel expanding and insurer USAA planning to hire as many as 1,000 workers. Homegrown software vendors InfusionSoft and Socious are growing, as well, and a rash of smaller companies are starting up or, like Ascendum, adding western offices.