Today’s headline news for Canadian IT solution providers:
- Integris, a managed AI and IT services firm backed by OMERS Private Equity, has announced its intent to acquireFirst Focus, the largest managed service provider serving small and midsize businesses across Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines. The deal, subject to regulatory approval, is designed to extend Integris’ geographic reach while accelerating delivery of AI-enabled managed services across regions. For the channel, the transaction is a clear expression of the platform MSP consolidation trend playing out globally through private equity – and for Canadian observers, the OMERS connection is notable: the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System is the PE backer driving this international build-out.
- Cybersecurity vendor NeuShield has announced a partnership with Ontario-based MSP Data Guards to deliver instant ransomware recovery services to clients. In a documented real-world use case, the companies reported restoring more than 6.2 terabytes of encrypted data in just fifteen minutes – a recovery window NeuShield says would have taken more than five days using traditional backup methods. By integrating NeuShield Data Sentinel into its managed security stack, Data Guards can offer one-click recovery of corrupted data and storage-layer protection against ransomware and file tampering, reflecting a broader market shift as solution providers move beyond prevention and detection to guarantee client data remains continuously recoverable without system rebuilds.
- ThreatLabs Europe, the research arm of ThreatDown, has discovered threat actors weaponizing AI agent skills to deliver the GachiLoader infostealer. Attackers are using a fake OpenClaw AI agent skill as a lure to inject the Rhadamanthys infostealer directly into memory, leveraging the Polygon blockchain for command and control to bypass traditional perimeter defenses. The malware harvests cryptocurrency wallets, browser credentials, Telegram messages, and password manager contents. The discovery is a direct warning for the channel: as non-human identities proliferate in client environments, identity and access management practices must now account for the vulnerabilities introduced by AI agents – not just human users.
In brief:
- Sublime Security has launched its first formal channel partner program and announced a move to a 100 percent channel sales model, with dedicated reseller and MSSP tracks. The agentic email security platform uses a rules-plus-AI approach it says catches attacks that signature-based tools and generic AI products miss.
- Konica Minolta has announced the spring 2026 launch of the AccurioPress C5080 Series, a new line of digital production presses designed for high-volume commercial printing environments.
- Forescout has launched Mission:Possible, the company’s biggest channel partner tour in 25 years, spanning more than 90 cities globally between May and September. The immersive events are built around hands-on IT, OT, IoT, and industrial security challenges, with the goal of sharpening partner positioning around zero trust and continuous threat exposure management.
- Microsoft 365 E7 goes generally available today at $99 per user per month, bundling Microsoft 365 Copilot, the Entra Suite, and advanced compliance capabilities in a single commercial tier. Microsoft’s Q3 earnings this week confirmed Copilot has crossed 20 million paid seats – E7’s launch signals the next phase of the AI licensing conversation for solution providers.
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Read Full Transcript
Welcome to The Buzz from ChannelBuzz.ca, I’m Robert Dutt, today is Friday, May 1, 2026, and here’s what’s happening in the channel today.
Integris, a managed AI and IT services firm backed by OMERS Private Equity, has announced its intent to acquire First Focus, the largest managed service provider serving small and midsize businesses across Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines. The deal is subject to regulatory approval and is designed to extend Integris’ geographic footprint while accelerating delivery of secure, scalable AI capabilities across regions. For the channel, it’s a clear example of the platform MSP consolidation trend playing out globally – and for Canadian observers specifically, it’s worth noting that OMERS, the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, is the private equity backer driving this international build-out.
Cybersecurity vendor NeuShield has announced a partnership with Canadian MSP Data Guards to deliver instant ransomware recovery services to clients. In a real-world use case that highlights the collaboration, the companies reported successfully restoring more than 6.2 terabytes of encrypted data in just fifteen minutes. According to NeuShield, this compares to more than five days that would have been required using traditional backup methods. By integrating NeuShield Data Sentinel into its managed security stack, Data Guards can offer one-click recovery of corrupted data and protection at the storage layer against ransomware and file tampering. The partnership underscores a broader trend in the market, as solution providers increasingly move beyond prevention and detection to ensure client data remains continuously recoverable without the need to rebuild systems from scratch.
ThreatLabs Europe, the research arm of ThreatDown, has discovered that threat actors are now weaponizing AI agent skills to deliver the GachiLoader infostealer. According to the company, attackers are using a fake OpenClaw AI agent skill as a lure to inject the Rhadamanthys infostealer directly into memory. The attack utilizes the Polygon blockchain for command and control instructions, allowing it to bypass many traditional perimeter defenses to harvest cryptocurrency wallets, browser credentials, Telegram messages, and password managers. As malicious actors increasingly exploit the expanding footprint of non-human identities, the discovery serves as a clear warning to the channel. IT professionals must ensure comprehensive identity and access management practices account for the vulnerabilities introduced by AI agents operating within client environments.
In Brief –
Sublime Security plans to go 100 percent channel
Konica Minolta has announced the spring 2026 launch of its AccurioPress C5080 Series for digital production environments.
Forescout goes on Mission:Possible partner tour
And finally, today’s the day for the launch of Microsoft 365 E7
Full details and links in the show notes or the blog post.
Later today on In The Channel, we continue our coverage from SAS Innovate 2026, as we talk to SAS global channel chief John Carey about four years building out the channel program for the analytics company, the increasing role of MSPs, and how his own goals for the partner portion of the company’s revenues are evolving.
And if you haven‘t heard it yet, yesterday’s episode featured my chat with SAS Canada leader Ryan MacDonald on the state of the AI opportunity in Canada, the role of partners, and why the value of SAS may be hidden to some customers.
That’s how we’re seeing the headlines today. I’m Robert Dutt for ChannelBuzz.ca, thanks for listening. Have a great day.
