This Saturday marks the longest day of the year—a moment when the sun is at its peak. But whether you’re soaking up the sun on the golf course, tending your tomato plants, or sneaking in a beach day, don’t let the summer solstice distract you from the big channel moves this week. We’re shining a light on hot new tools, fresh partner plays, and M&A action MSPs need to know.

Here’s what’s heating up across the channel. Grab your shades and dive in!

Products & Solutions

AvePoint Enhances Elements Platform with Advanced Security and Optimization Features

AvePoint, a provider of data security, governance, and resilience solutions, announced new capabilities for the AvePoint Elements Platform that the company says reinforces its commitment to accelerating profitability and efficiency for MSPs.

New capabilities generally available today in the AvePoint Elements Platform include marketplace integration with major distributors, allowing partners to purchase, track, and manage all client licenses directly from the Elements dashboard without switching between multiple vendor portals.

The new risk user insight feature continuously monitors user activities across network security, configuration security, endpoint security, and identity access management, using customizable rules to identify potential risks before they become breaches. MSPs can now proactively detect suspicious behavior patterns, reduce their liability exposure, and offer clients enhanced security monitoring services that command premium pricing.

With the license optimization feature, MSPs can analyze license usage across multiple client tenants, automatically detecting inactive or blocked users and enabling seamless license reassignment without manual intervention. This enables MSPs to recover wasted license costs for clients.

Finally, the new storage optimization feature allows partners to configure and execute archiving jobs across multiple customers simultaneously, with self-restoration capabilities for end users and industry-specific compliance rules. MSPs can dramatically reduce manual archiving work and ensure clients meet regulatory requirements without constant oversight.

“In today’s market, MSPs must balance robust security measures with resource optimization and operational efficiency,” said AvePoint’s Scott Sacket, senior vice president of partner strategy, in a press statement. “These new features demonstrate the evolution of AvePoint Elements to empower MSPs to navigate challenges with confidence and create sustainable competitive advantage in today’s rapidly changing business landscape.”

NinjaOne Adds MDM for MacOS

NinjaOne, the automated endpoint management platform, introduced NinjaOne MDM for macOS. Now, IT teams and MSPs can fully manage Windows, macOS, and Linux devices, as well as mobile endpoints across iOS, iPadOS, and Android, from a single interface. The addition of Mac MDM capabilities gives NinjaOne’s customers and partners visibility, security, and full control over any endpoint, anywhere.

Partner Programs

Skyhawk Security Launches Partner Program

Skyhawk Security, a cloud threat detection and response (CDR) provider, launched a partner program. Reinforcing its channel-first strategy, Skyhawk’s partner program is designed to deliver a solution tailored to individual partner needs, emphasizing ROI while extending Skyhawk’s reach across North America, Latin America and beyond, according to the company.

“Our partner program is more than a route to market. It’s a force multiplier,” said Chen Burshan, CEO of Skyhawk Security, in a press statement. “We’ve proven the power of our platform through early partner success, and now we’re scaling with a broader community ready to lead the next phase of cloud security. Channel partners who align with Skyhawk aren’t just adding another vendor, they’re joining a mission to deliver smarter, preemptive protection where it matters most.”

Skyhawk’s partner program provides offers three options:

• Referral Partners: Skyhawk handles the sales cycle end-to-end and partners receive a referral commission based on deal value.
• Reseller Partners (VARs): The co-sell model offers partners access to sales support and resources. By Q3 2025, the program will include a formal enablement curriculum to help these partners independently manage the sales cycle.
• MSSPs/MSPs: Partners will have scalable pricing tiers as their customer count grows and may deploy and support Skyhawk without direct involvement from the company.

In addition, the program offers deal registration, access to a partner portal with marketing and sales enablement assets, and consultative support from Skyhawk’s technical and customer success teams. By Q3 2025, partners will also gain access to an on-demand training curriculum aimed at ramping sales and technical teams quickly and effectively.

For MSPs managing cloud infrastructure for their clients, “we’d be an excellent complementary add-on service,” says Jennifer Duman, channel director at Skyhawk Security. “Because of the nature of our continuous autonomous Purple Team, we’re not going to bury their team in alerts and false positives but give them a clear line of sight to actionable threats before they become a breach.”

Partnerships & Integrations

Vicarius and Atera Partner to Provide Vulnerability Remediation to MSPs

Vicarius, a vulnerability remediation company, and Atera, an IT management platform, announced a strategic partnership to provide Atera customers with seamless access to vRx by Vicarius, an autonomous end-to-end vulnerability remediation platform. vRx will be available on Atera’s App Center marketplace.

Powered by native patching, custom scripting, automation, and patchless protection, vRx enables streamlined CVE risk elimination across more than 2,000 applications and operating systems, while protecting over 10,000 third-party applications and devices, according to the company.

With a few clicks, MSPs can deploy vRx’s full-stack remediation suite through the Atera platform.

vRx features include:

• A range of remediation options from patch deployment and scripts to its proprietary Patchless Protection, which creates a secure barrier around vulnerable apps, maintaining functionality while significantly reducing risk until a validated patch is ready for deployment
• Automated remediation workflows and scheduled deployments
• The ability to manage their account, add team members, and manage billing directly within Atera
• vRx’s fully featured dashboard, providing complete visibility and control over vulnerabilities prioritized by business context

“Our partnership with Atera brings together two powerful platforms to help MSPs not only identify risks but fix them fast, with minimal manual effort,” said Tanya Alfonso, VP of channel sales, in a press statement. “This integration will help managed service providers scale their remediation offerings while also boosting business efficiency.” 

Financing

Slide Raises $25M to Fuel BCDR Innovation and Expand into Canada

Slide, the BCDR startup co-founded by Datto veterans Austin McChord and Michael Fass, has secured $25 million in Series A funding led by Base10 Partners, with participation from the Outsiders Fund and Top Down Ventures. The funding will support product development, team expansion, and Slide’s official launch in Canada, where it is now accepting MSP partners.

Since emerging from stealth in February with its Z1 appliance, Slide has grown to 25 employees and counts over 150 MSPs as customers. The company now offers three appliance models and invites MSPs to test its product and support firsthand before scaling.

McChord says the funding signals long-term commitment to innovation in the BCDR space. Slide plans product enhancements including support for co-managed clients and updates to encryption technology.

While navigating challenges like tariffs and supply chain constraints, Fass says Slide remains financially strong and has not passed cost increases on to MSPs. Looking ahead, the company aims to stay laser-focused on its core mission: helping MSPs back up and protect business data—anywhere it lives.

M&A – MSPs

Integris Acquires TechMD

Integris acquired TechMD along with its security division, 1nteger Security. This strategic acquisition is Integris’ largest to date, according to the company.

Founded in 1986 as ICS and rebranded in 2023, TechMD is a Northeast-based MSP with a strong presence in California.

“Every acquisition we make is a strategic step toward our vision of transforming Integris into a smarter, faster, and more transformative digital powerhouse,” said Glenn Mathis, newly appointed CEO of Integris, and previous president and COO, in a press statement. “By bringing like-minded teams and capabilities into the Integris family, we’re not just expanding our footprint—we’re deepening our ability to elevate the customer experience. Together, we will deliver a high-impact platform that’s more responsive, more secure, and more aligned with the real needs of our clients.”

Integris also announced that founder and former CEO Rashaad Bajwa is transitioning to executive chairman of the Integris board. “It has been the privilege of my life to help build Integris into what it is today, however, I cannot think of a more perfect fit for the future of Integris than Glenn,” said Bajwa, in a press statement.

For a conversation MSP Success had with Bajwa about the company’s growth, see The 2 P’s That Turned Rashaad Bajwa into a Titan – Private Equity and Premium Services.

M&A – Vendors

Bitdefender to Acquire Mesh Security

Cybersecurity company Bitdefender is acquiring Mesh Security Limited (Mesh), a provider of advanced email security solutions. Through the acquisition, Mesh’s email security technology and capabilities will be integrated into Bitdefender’s GravityZone XDR platform and MDR services.

Founded in 2020, Mesh employs a dual-layered approach to email security, combining perimeter-based protection via a secure email gateway (SEG) with mailbox-level defense through API-based deployment. This model expands visibility into threat activity across all vectors and contributes high-quality telemetry to Bitdefender’s global threat intelligence network. Mesh has been deployed by hundreds of MSP partners and thousands of end customers globally.

“We are pleased to announce our intent to acquire Mesh, a strategic move that will complement our GravityZone XDR platform and power our MDR service to help businesses combat email-borne threats as they continue to evolve,” said Andrei Florescu, president and general manager of Bitdefender Business Solutions Group, in a press statement. “Mesh brings leading-edge innovation from a deeply experienced team that shares our commitment to effective, real-world security. Together, we will further strengthen our ability to provide proven and trusted email protection to our global customer base.”

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

People

The ASCII Group, North America’s original vendor-neutral community for MSPs, appointed Jerry Koutavas as CEO. Alan Weinberger, founder and former CEO, will transition into the role of non-operating chairman of the board, continuing his decades-long mission to advocate for the IT channel.

“Building The ASCII Group from the ground up and watching it evolve into a true community has been one of the most meaningful journeys of my life,” said Weinberger, in a press statement. “This organization has always stood for trust, collaboration, and independence. Jerry has been a steward of that mission for many years, and I have full confidence in his leadership as ASCII moves into its next chapter.” For more on Weinberger, see How ASCII Group’s Alan Weinberger Achieved a Grand Slam for Its MSP Members.

Koutavas has served as president of The ASCII Group for the past 16 years. During his tenure, he helped establish a peer network that has facilitated over 500,000 member-to-member exchanges that have solved technical issues, improved service delivery, and guided critical business decisions …

… N-able appointed Vikram Ramesh chief marketing officer. Ramesh previously served as chief strategy officer at N-able, and prior to that, as CMO of Adlumin. Before that, he served as head of global marketing at Google Cloud Security, following Google’s $5.4 billion acquisition of Mandiant.

“Vikram’s appointment represents a pivotal moment in N-able’s transformation journey,” said John Pagliuca, CEO at N-able, in a press statement. “His deep cybersecurity expertise across Fortune 500 enterprises and high-growth security innovators makes him uniquely qualified to lead our marketing evolution as we shift from IT management to becoming the midmarket’s most trusted cyber resiliency partner.”

Compliance

Privileged access management company Keeper Security announced its intent to obtain Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) Authorization at the High Impact Level and meet the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) requirements for an Impact Level 5 (IL5) security classification for cloud service providers (CSPs).

Keeper earned FedRAMP Authorization at the Moderate Impact Level for Keeper Security Government Cloud (KSGC) in August 2022.

Keeper is also working toward DoD IL5 certification. This classification enables CSPs to store and process Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) and certain National Security Systems (NSS) data—meeting strict DoD cybersecurity standards.

The company is currently undergoing a 3PAO assessment for FedRAMP High and is actively pursuing an Authority to Operate (ATO) from a federal agency sponsor. Keeper anticipates receiving both FedRAMP High authorization and IL5 certification in the second half of the year.

By the Numbers

Your SMB Customers Know the Security Risks – But Aren’t Ready

This shouldn’t be news to MSPs, who no doubt have this discussion every QBR: SMBs have increased their spend on cybersecurity, but they’re not necessarily spending smartly and are often still underfunding. Indeed, while 63% of SMBs increased their cybersecurity spending, nearly a third still allocate less than 5% of their IT budget to security. That’s according to new research from Devolutions.

Notably, the company’s The State of IT Security for SMBs in 2025 report also reveals a gap between confidence and capability. While 71% of SMBs say they feel confident in handling a major cybersecurity incident, that’s a drop from 80% in 2023. Despite the confidence level, only 22% report having an advanced cybersecurity posture, down from 30% in 2023.

Many SMBs are still missing effective defenses. For instance, the report finds that 52% of SMBs still rely on manual tools like spreadsheets or shared vaults to manage privileged access. That number has grown since 2023. Respondents say barriers to adopting a privileged access management (PAM) solution include cost, lack of awareness, and low perceived need.

And while 71% of SMBs plan to increase their use of AI in cybersecurity, only 25% are using it today—and 40% haven’t started at all. However, 62% believe AI will be a critical part of their strategy within five years, signaling a strong strategic appetite for AI.

With 43% of SMBs having faced at least one cyberattack in the past year, seems like MSPs have a lot to talk about at their customers’ next QBRs or TBRs.