The channel’s biggest international moves of 2025

As ambitions and teams expanded, several channel partners entered new markets to chase further opportunities

The UK IT channel is, as its name suggests, made up of links between people and companies.

As firms evolve, these links spread wider and wider, leading some partners to look beyond the limits of the Kingdom.

And with growth in the UK increasingly harder to come by, many were drawn to look beyond the English Channel for their growth.

Like the sea’s French name, La Manche (which translates to “the sleeve”), companies have stretched out their hands toward new markets, leading to strengthened collaboration and a broader footprint.

3stepIT

Finland-based partner firm 3stepIT got the ball rolling in February this year, as the firm made a strategic expansion into the US through the launch of its Texas headquarters.

This endeavour was made possible by bringing over some of the NORAM team of Singapore-based maintenance, lifecycle, ITAD services and hardware provider Procurri, CEO Jakob Lagander told CRN.

“We found a perfect fit with Procurri, a company we’ve been working with closely for several years,” he said.

“One of their divisions was willing to let us take it over, as they recognised that we could scale it faster than they could.”

The company simultaneously launched dedicated sales hubs across the US and Canada, in an effort to provide regional clients with the same delivery model as in Europe.

The firm also announced it is growing its workforce of over 500 employees with the launch of a datacentre lifecycle services division, which already includes different corporate technology and IT devices.

Assured Data Protection

Assured Data Protection (ADP) expanded into France in January through its partnership with I-TRACING, an MSSP based in the Paris outskirts.

Thanks to this collaboration, I-TRACING is now able to offer Rubrik’s data protection platform as a managed service through ADP’s second site data replication infrastructure.

Among the French launch, the organisation hired Erwan Jouan as country manager to lead operations in the region.

“Our launch into France is an important step forward for Assured in Europe,” said Rob Mackle, EVP EMEA and APJ at the company.

“The French market is very receptive to in-country managed service and recognises the value that companies like ours can bring.

“We’re excited to build out our team in France and partner with a leading cybersecurity specialist like I-TRACING.”

Orange Cyberdefense

Orange Cyberdefense this July acquired 100 per cent of ensec, a Swiss cybersecurity company based in Zurich, to consolidate its presence in the country.

The buyout marked Orange’s cyber arm entry into German-speaking Switzerland, allowing it to provide customers in the area with a local presence.

This move also brought over 40 employees and a portfolio of more than 130 clients operating in sectors such as finance, retail and energy as well as customers from the public sector.

Moreover, the purchased of the Zurich-based firm added consulting, IT security integration and managed security services capabilities to the partner’s offering, as well as support for products from various cybersecurity providers.

“This move not only strengthens our market position among Germanic customers in Switzerland but also underscores our commitment to build a safer digital society for our clients and partners,” said Hugues Foulon, CEO of Orange Cyberdefense.

Symetri

That same month, Symetri announced its acquisition of Brazil-based FF Solutions, marking its entry into the LATAM market.

The Sweden-HQ firm expanded its network and portfolio to clients in the area, including its own products, such as Naviate, Sovelia and CQ.

The purchase was also aimed at gaining further investment, expertise and new technologies to broaden its portfolio.

“The fusion of talent, technology and investment makes this a great opportunity for us to continue enabling the world to design, build and manufacture in a smarter and more sustainable way,” said Jens Kollserud, CEO of Symetri.

“The team at FF Solutions have captured our enthusiasm with their ambition, technical expertise and diversity.

“Not only do we believe we can accelerate the work they are doing with their clients, but we also believe they will challenge us to innovate faster and raise the bar on creativity and impact.”

Avanade

Last week, Avanade announced its expansion into India, driven by demand across the region from mid-market organisations.

The move is reportedly part of a multi-market growth strategy to support businesses aiming to modernise their operations.

This geographical growth will also aim to strengthen the firm’s collaboration with Microsoft and Accenture, in an effort to speed up innovation, boost security resilience, and support AI-driven growth in the Indian market.

This comes as Avanade has reinforced its footprint across APAC over the last few months.

Six months ago, the partner firm entered Indonesia.

In November, it unveiled an AI modernisation hub in Malaysia.

The reseller also has entities in Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines and Australia.

Earlier this year, the company’s CEO, Rodrigo Caserta, toldCRN that he would also be looking into Thailand and Vietnam moving forward.

The distributors

QBS Software

QBS Software has drastically expanded its footprint across EMEA this year throughout two acquisitions.

In January, it bought out Prianto, through which it entered Romania, Czechia, Poland, Austria and Switzerland.

This move also reinforced its operations in countries including Germany, France, Turkey, South Africa and Hungary, and allowed the distie to get near $600m (£448.6m) in reoccurring revenues, CEO Dave Stevinson told CRN at the time.

The group is now ahead of its $600m target.

But this was nowhere near the end for the organisation.

Five months later, it purchased Dubai-based VAD Emerging Market Technology (EMT) to propel its vendors’ technologies into new territories.

This gave QBS an on-the-ground presence in Saudi Arabia and the UAE and formalised its investment-backed expansion into Qatar and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, which in addition to these markets includes Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman.

“We’re bridging the gap in the Middle East and North Africa, which gives us excellent coverage of the complete META region,” Stevinson told CRN.

Elovade

This April, the UK channel saw the arrival of a new German player on the market, as Elovade entered the country via its purchase of Yorkshire-based Brigantia.

Following the buyout, Angus Shaw remained MD of the business, while founder Iain Shaw and chairman Martin Wright both exited the business.

This marked the distie’s second buyout this year, as it took over Italian distributor Avangate in January.

“This acquisition is an emphatic vindication of the strength of Brigantia and what we have achieved over many years,” noted [Angus] Shaw.

“Our partners can expect the same commitment from the same team and look forward to exciting new opportunities, expertise and avenues to explore as a result of joining the Elovade family.

“The potential introduction of Elovade cloud services in the UK is a particularly exciting opportunity for partners in the future.”

Pax8

Cloud commerce marketplace Pax8 set foot in Denmark earlier this year to strengthen support to MSPs across the Nordics.

As part of the move, the company also grew its Nordic sales team and appointed Birol Ilgøy as senior channel account manager.

In an interview with CRN, EMEA CEO Harald Nuij explained that this decision felt like the right step forward,

This expansion will aim to provide MSPs in the Nordics with local support and better access to cloud technology in an effort to help them increase efficiencies, reduce risk, and boost their business.