**Editor’s Note: Please click here for a recap of the biggest channel-impacting merger and acquisition news from February.**

Opaq Networks has acquired FourV Systems to beef up its security-as-a-service platform with performance and regulatory compliance measurement, monitoring and reporting.

FourV‘s patented GreySpark technology will be integrated into the Opaq cloud platform, and will allow MSPs and MSSPs to automate the assessment of midsize customers’ security architecture and regulatory compliance maturity. The platform with GreySpark will be available this spring.

Opaq Networks’ Ken Ammon

Ken Ammon, Opaq’s chief strategy officer, tells Channel Partners the acquisition provides “compelling new value propositions” for Opaq partners to attract and retain more midsize enterprise customers, increase revenue and margins, and reduce costs, “all with a single cloud platform.”

“For example, many midsize enterprises are seeking service providers that can deliver continuous assessment, monitoring and reporting capabilities,” he said. “Regulatory compliance remains a huge driver for midsize companies, so (to) be able to assess and manage security against compliance frameworks … will enable Opaq partners to help their customers identify and prioritize security investments and continually improve their risk/security posture. Finally, service providers need better tools to help them rapidly respond to incidents — the automation and analytics underpinning the Opaq cloud platform with the integration of FourV advances their ability to protect, detect and respond to threats.”

FourV has existing channel-partner relationships, and those partners are being provided with the opportunity to add the Opaq cloud platform to their offering, Ammon said.

“Opaq Networks shared our vision for automating security-operations management, and we felt their focus on providing a turnkey, enterprise-grade solution for MSPs and MSSPs will revolutionize offerings in that market,” said Derek Gabbard, FourV’s president. “From a technical standpoint, GreySpark was a natural fit for the Opaq cloud platform. It provides a transparent overlay that gathers the intelligence and metrics that service providers need to manage and report on the security and compliance posture of their customers to both IT and business leaders.”

Last year, Opaq acquired Bat Blue Networks, a provider of IP and cloud-based network and security offerings, and Drawbridge Networks, a provider of micro-segmentation solutions.

“Opaq is redefining security as a service and is 100 percent channel-focused,” Ammon said. “The [FourV] acquisition aligns with Opaq’s mission to enable partners to make enterprise-grade security accessible and affordable for midsize enterprises. At the same time, we are making it easier and more profitable for service providers to centrally monitor, measure, report, manage and enforce security through a single pane of glass — using one cloud platform. However, in order to effectively manage their customers’ security, partners must first be able to effectively measure it. This acquisition enables Opaq partners to do just that.”