APAC: Consolidation Accelerates as Vendors Rewire Routes to Market

September in APAC was defined by MSP consolidation in Australia and New Zealand, a run of distribution and reseller deals that widen how security vendors reach MSPs, and a wave of senior channel hires as vendors rebuild their APJ partner teams. Microsoft’s new Marketplace programme also landed at month-end, with implications for any ISV selling through the region’s partners.

September at a glance

• Integris completed its acquisition of First Focus on 1 September — its first deal outside the US — and First Focus kept buying within a week.
• Evergreen said it now holds around 20 MSPs across A/NZ and expects that to reach 23, with further acquisitions to come.
• N-able signed Leader as an Australian distributor; Huntress and blueAPACHE added a reseller route alongside their managed offer.
• AWS, Okta, Kyndryl and OpenAI all made senior APAC/APJ channel or sales appointments.
• Microsoft launched Frontier Accelerate for Marketplace on 28 September, consolidating its ISV Marketplace programmes.

M&A and consolidation

Australia and New Zealand remained the region’s most active market for MSP and Microsoft-partner deals, with private equity and US roll-ups both buying.

Integris completes First Focus deal. The acquisition of First Focus by US-based, OMERS-backed Integris completed on 1 September after FIRB clearance in August. First Focus serves more than 1,000 SMB customers across Australia and New Zealand; the businesses will unify under the Integris brand, with Ross Sardi becoming ANZ managing director and chief innovation officer. (SCD Advisory)

First Focus buys again in Wellington. A week after changing hands, First Focus acquired Wellington MSP Resolve Technology — its fourth New Zealand acquisition of 2026, after CNX, Optimus Systems and OneHQ. (SCD Advisory)

Evergreen doubles down on A/NZ. The US holding company told ARN it counts around 140 MSPs globally, including 20 in A/NZ, expected to rise to 23 in the near term. It typically targets MSPs with more than $5 million revenue, at least $1 million EBITDA and over half of revenue from recurring managed services. Its Lyra Technology Group business also bought Adelaide’s Concept Data and Voice Select, while sister company Pine Services Group acquired Microsoft Business Central specialist Evolution Business Systems. (ARN; SCD Advisory)

Private equity backs a Microsoft specialist. Alceon Private Equity took a 52% stake in Engage Squared, a Microsoft 365, Copilot and Power Platform partner operating across Australia, New Zealand and Japan with more than 170 staff. (SCD Advisory)

Capability buys continue. xAmplify acquired Perth ServiceNow partner Accelerate IT Solutions (its third deal in twelve months), and Adactin completed its purchase of Dynamics 365 specialist Focus Dynamics Group. (SCD Advisory; ARN)

Distribution and partner routes to market

N-able signs Leader in Australia. Announced 23 September, the deal gives Australian MSPs, resellers and integrators access to N-able’s security portfolio through Leader’s distribution network, with local support and partner programmes. (N-able; MSSP Alert)

Huntress and blueAPACHE add a reseller route. The Australian provider added a reseller agreement to its existing managed services relationship with Huntress, giving customers both a direct-purchase and a co-managed option. (ChannelE2E)

Tech Data on the ‘heavy lifting’ for partners. Tech Data’s APJ advanced solutions lead told CRN Asia the distributor is focused on identifying capable partners early and helping them scale across AI, cybersecurity and cloud, including automated renewals tooling. (CRN Asia)

Everpure targets MSPs and sovereignty in A/NZ. New A/NZ partner lead Alison McQuarrie said the vendor is investing in resources and partner programmes to grow its MSP base, citing data sovereignty demand. (ARN)

Recorded Future ‘recentres’ its channel. The threat intelligence vendor said a new partner programme is coming as it reinvigorates its A/NZ channel across SIs, VARs and MSSPs. (ARN)

Programme changes with regional impact

Microsoft Frontier Accelerate for Marketplace. Made available on 28 September, it consolidates Microsoft’s Marketplace motions for software companies into one path, with a no-cost option for eligible partners and up to $30,000 in Azure dev/test credits for new Premium partners at the build-and-publish stage. (Channel Insider; Microsoft)

Okta Partner Accelerator. Okta unveiled a redesigned programme, due in early 2027, that moves from a revenue-led structure to an outcome-based one with sales, services and technology tracks, and shifts the bulk of service delivery to partners. (ChannelE2E)

People moves

• AWS: Pravar Gautam returned as Director, Partner Core, APJ (25 Sep). (CRN Asia)
• Okta: Sunil Kedaraji joined as VP, Channels and Strategic Alliances, APJ (8 Sep). (CRN Asia)
• Kyndryl: Megawaty Khie appointed VP & MD for ASEAN and Korea (21 Sep). (CRN Asia)
• OpenAI: Sanjay Deshmukh left Elastic to become VP of APAC Sales (15 Sep). (CRN Asia)
• Smartsheet: Jarrod Kinchington promoted to head APAC (10 Sep). (ARN)
• Atturra: Frazer Scott stepped down as NZ country manager (25 Sep). (ARN)

Market signals

• India’s AI skills gap is the opportunity. CRN India research points to demand for partners that can help MSMEs adopt, govern and secure AI. (CRN Asia)
• XChange Asia takeaways. Channel leaders at the inaugural XChange Asia and XChange Australia argued uneven AI maturity is pushing partners to specialise and move to outcome-based offers. (CRN Asia)

Since month-end — worth watching

• SoftwareOne/Crayon: the two completed the integration of their APAC channel businesses under the SoftwareOne brand on 13 October. (VSDaily)
• Macquarie Telecom / Netskope and NetApp: Macquarie extended its Netskope SASE partnership and NetApp made three A/NZ leadership hires in mid-October. (ARN)
• CRN Channel Leaders Asia 2027: applications opened on 30 September. (CRN Asia)