APAC Channel News Round-up — October 2026

In October the APAC channel saw distributors consolidate and expand into South-East Asia. Microsoft’s new CSP partner economics also took effect, and AI marketplaces aimed at MSPs launched.

Headlines

Dicker Data is moving into Thailand and Malaysia. On 6 October it agreed to buy Sektor Group for NZ$138.0m (about A$111.8m). Its investor centre records completion on 2 November. (ASX)
SoftwareOne has finished absorbing Crayon’s APAC channel business, now running under the SoftwareOne brand. It was announced in Singapore. (ChannelLife)
Microsoft’s Growth Margin went live on 1 October and is now a permanent part of CSP partner economics. From the same date there is a 5% uplift on annual-term CSP software billed monthly. (Pax8 APAC)
Pax8 launched 8os on 19 October. It is an “agentic workforce operating system” that lets partners deploy managed AI coworkers for SMB clients. (Pax8)
Vendors hired heavily for APAC channel roles: Zoom, BeyondTrust, NinjaOne, Hitachi Vantara and Cohesity all named new channel leaders.

Vendor partner programmes

The programme change that matters most is Microsoft’s: CSP margin now rewards growth (new customers, seat expansion and AI adoption) rather than renewals.

Vendor	October move	What it means for partners
Microsoft	Growth Margin live from 1 Oct; 5% uplift on annual-term, monthly-billed CSP software (Windows Server, SQL Server, CALs, System Center); Azure promotions enabled from 1 Oct	Pay now tilts towards new logos and Copilot/AI growth, and monthly-billed legacy licences cost more
Oracle	US$1bn over four years for Oracle PartnerNetwork, announced 23 Oct	Funds training, migration, co-sell and Oracle Marketplace; customers can spend more of their prepaid cloud credit on partner offerings
Cohesity	New APJ partner sales lead to drive the Aspire Partner Programme	New go-to-market partner programmes planned around cyber resilience
Ruijie Networks	APAC partner summit in Chongqing with 500+ partners; launched Cybrey, an AI-native SME networking brand	New SMB/SME networking line for partners in ASEAN and ANZ

Channel leadership moves

Company	Appointment	Role
Zoom	Andrew Hindmarch (ex-Netskope)	APAC head of channel, Singapore
BeyondTrust	Brendon Thwaites	Director, partner ecosystems APAC, Sydney
NinjaOne	Damian Vale (promoted)	APAC director of channel
Hitachi Vantara	Yasser Elgammal	ANZ channel partner and alliances director
Cohesity	Matthew Johnston (ex-Odaseva CRO)	Senior director, partner sales APJ, Perth

Distribution & marketplaces

Distribution in APAC is consolidating, and the big players are going after South-East Asia.

Dicker Data buys Sektor Group. Sektor has about 230 staff and specialises in point-of-sale, enterprise mobility, cybersecurity and physical security. The deal gives Dicker Data its first operating base in Thailand and Malaysia, plus a route to sell Sektor’s lines into its 12,000+ ANZ partners. It is funded by extending existing debt facilities. (ASX announcement, IT Brief)
SoftwareOne and Crayon now run as one APAC channel business. Partners keep the customer relationship. SoftwareOne adds solution design, bid support, security and practice-development teams, and can deliver services directly, alongside the partner or under the partner’s brand. (ChannelLife, Daily Tribune)
Pax8 is pushing “Managed Intelligence”. 8os and 8bot (a packaged, managed AI coworker) are sold through the Pax8 Marketplace. Its October APAC Microsoft update also covers Azure promotions and Copilot trial offers that run until 31 December. (Pax8 newsroom, Pax8 APAC update)
Pax8 recognised Pit Stop Technologies for APAC Partner Collaboration at its Beyond EMEA awards. (Pax8)

M&A and investment

October’s biggest APAC channel deal was Dicker Data’s purchase of Sektor. One Melbourne MSP is also up for sale, with expressions of interest closing on 4 November.

Date	Deal	Detail
29 Oct	CTM Professional Services in administration	Melbourne MSP: about A$7.49m revenue in FY26, 25 customers, six staff. EOIs close 4 Nov, 2pm
15 Oct	Proofpoint to acquire Varonis	About US$6.3bn all cash; expected to close H1 2027. Follows Hornetsecurity, extending Proofpoint’s MSP/SMB push
6 Oct	Dicker Data to acquire Sektor Group	NZ$138.0m (about A$111.8m), debt-funded; completion recorded 2 Nov

MSP/MSSP market & AI

MSPs expect AI revenue to grow, but few can show it paying off yet. In ANZ the pitch is shifting towards AI governance as a recurring service.

The MSP 501 report (global, published 5–6 Oct) says 57% of MSPs expect AI to be among their biggest revenue gainers over the next 12 months, up from 37%. AI is second only to managed security, and 91% now offer or use AI. (IT Brief NZ)
Nerdio’s State of the MSP Business report (20 Oct) paints a more cautious picture. 32% of MSPs have adopted AI internally, but only 12% report measurable productivity gains and 14% run a revenue-generating AI service line. (GlobeNewswire)
AvePoint’s ANZ MSP roadshow argued that customers have already bought AI but few govern it. That gap gives MSPs a recurring compliance and agent-governance service line to sell. (AvePoint)
Malaysia now has a sovereign DDoS service. Zetvest signed as Nexusguard’s authorised MSSP at CyberDSA on 5 October and will run a national-level DDoS scrubbing centre from its local SOC. (PR Newswire APAC)

Looking ahead

The next big APAC channel gathering is Canalys Forums APAC in Bali in December. Pax8’s first Beyond APAC follows in Sydney in March.

Date	Event / deadline	Notes
1–3 Dec 2026	Canalys Forums APAC	Bali, Indonesia
1 Dec 2026	Updated Microsoft Partner Agreement	Takes effect automatically for most CSP partners
31 Dec 2026	Varonis self-hosted end of life	Customers move to SaaS ahead of the Proofpoint close
14–16 Mar 2027	Pax8 Beyond APAC	Hyatt Regency Sydney; 800+ MSPs, vendors and media expected

Sources

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