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Cyber security vendor Bitdefender has acquired its long-standing regional distribution partner, SMS eTech in a bid to officially establish its presence in the Australia and New Zealand (A/NZ) markets.
As of 1 September, the acquisition will mark the vendor's first official presence in the Asia Pacific region, 13 years since entering the market in 2005.
During the past four years, SMS eTech has been Bitdefender’s exclusive partner in Australia, helping to grow its business by 55 per cent with a particular emphasis on enterprise sales.
SMS eTech, which was established in 1997, has six office locations across Australia (NSW, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia) and New Zealand, with its headquarters located in Victoria.
From a partner perspective, the business works with SMB resellers, system integrators, computer, corporate and national retailers, in addition to value-added resellers, managed service providers and independent software vendors.
Under the terms of the deal, all current SMS eTech employees working on the Bitdefender business line will be retained, focusing on consolidating its channel relationships, online sales and expanding into retail.
Remaining SMS eTech employees will continue to operate independently, on other business lines, which includes software vendor 1080 Agile.
Bitdefender vice president of worldwide channels Joe Sykora said Australia will play a key role as it continues to build its business and brand into the APAC region.
“Our channel partners have proven an essential ingredient in our success, and we look forward to working closely with them, locally, to serve and protect more businesses in the region,” Sykora said.
SMS eTech managing director Colin Westbury added that the acquisition was the natural progression of the two companies.
“SMS eTech has always specialised in helping brands establish in the A/NZ region. I look forward to watching Bitdefender accelerate its presence and market penetration in the region,” Westbury said.
Entering the Asia Pacific region comes as Bitdefender experiences a five-year growth period, tripling the number of staff and revenue, and expanding partnerships.
