M&A & Deals
Mergers, acquisitions, partner program changes, and the deal flow driving consolidation.
The AI Giants Just Decided They Own the Security Stack. Read the March M&A Data.
38 cybersecurity deals closed in March 2026. OpenAI bought Promptfoo. Databricks launched a SIEM. The channel security story just got a much bigger cast of characters.
The Intermedia Deal Isn't About UCaaS. It's About Who Owns the Customer.
26North's acquisition of Intermedia from Madison Dearborn isn't a routine PE exit. It's a $430M ARR bet that the CORE partner model is the winning formula for cloud communications — and the timing tells you everything.
The Q1 2026 Cybersecurity Money Report Is Out. The CrowdStrike Signal Is the One Worth Reading.
Q1 2026 cybersecurity financing hit $3.8B — up 33% year over year. But the number worth watching isn't the headline. It's what CrowdStrike is doing with partner-sourced revenue.
ConnectWise Just Bought the Future of MSP Labor Economics
The zofiQ acquisition isn't a product announcement. It's a structural bet on how managed service providers scale — and a direct challenge to the headcount-driven growth model that's been running the industry for 20 years.
Xerox Replaced Its CEO. The Stock Price Tells You Why.
Louie Pastor takes over as Xerox CEO after Steve Bandrowczak's sudden departure. With the stock at $1.30, a $450M PE lifeline, and a Lexmark integration still in progress, this isn't a leadership transition. It's triage.
Sherweb just took $125M and got very serious about running the cloud marketplace for MSPs everywhere
The Montreal-based cloud distributor closed its first-ever external investment on March 25. It's not a funding story. It's a consolidation play — and it has implications for every MSP choosing a distribution partner right now.
Charter-Cox Is One State Away From Closing. Here's What That Means for You.
New York approved the $34.5B merger Thursday. California is the last holdout. Partners who wait for the close to pick a side are already behind.
OpenAI Just Built Its Own Channel. It Runs Through Private Equity.
OpenAI is forming a $10B PE-backed joint venture to push enterprise AI through portfolio companies — routing around traditional channel partners. Anthropic is doing the same thing.
Google Just Handed Its Fiber Network to Private Equity. Here's What It Means for the Channel.
GFiber and Astound are merging under Stonepeak's majority control. Alphabet stays as minority shareholder. The deal creates a 7.1M-location fiber giant — and hands PE another seat at the broadband table.
HPE-Juniper's Best Channel People Are Walking. Extreme Networks Is Bragging About It.
Five named executives have left HPE-Juniper since the merger closed, landing at Extreme, Nokia, and Equinix. The headcount is down 5,000. And Extreme's CFO went on record about the 'halo effect.' Channel partners need to know what this means for their networking practice.
What Is a TSD in Telecom? Full Guide for Agents, MSPs, and Advisors
TSDs are the backbone of indirect telecom sales. Here is what they do, why they exist, and how to pick the right one for your business.
Cisco 360: the biggest partner program overhaul in a decade
Nearly 90% of Cisco's revenue flows through partners. They couldn't afford to get this wrong.
ServiceNow spent $12 billion on security in one year. Here's what that means for you
Armis for $7.75B. Moveworks for $2.85B. Veza for ~$1B. ServiceNow just tripled its security addressable market.
Where VMware partners actually went after Broadcom
Six months after the purge, we tracked where the displaced partners landed. The answers aren't what you'd expect.
Charter plus Cox isn't a cable deal. It's a wireless play
The combined entity will merge MVNO operations, share CBRS spectrum, and reduce dependence on T-Mobile's wholesale network.
The partner programs that actually matter in 2026
CRN's 2026 Partner Program Guide is out. Here's what separates the 5-star programs from everyone else.