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

CHANNEL PARTNERS CONFERENCE & EXPO — MicroCorp is creating a new cloud services business unit via acquisition.

The master agent announced Tuesday at the Channel Partners Conference & Expo that it has purchased Open Spectrum, a North Carolina-based data center marketplace provider. MicroCorp, which made the purchase through an equity investment, said the new cloud services division will provide a “a robust consultancy resource for SMB and enterprise opportunities.”

Open Spectrum’s portfolio includes a range of professional services and colocation, security, infrastructure as a service and disaster recovery as a service.

MicroCorp’s Phil Keenan

MicroCorp President Phil Keenan says the two companies had already been partnering to give MicroCorp partners cloud consulting services.

“We are now taking this proven model to a new level by bringing Open Spectrum into the MicroCorp family and creating a dedicated cloud services division, helping our partners to transform their businesses with confidence in this rapidly evolving business landscape,” Keenan said.

MicroCorp’s Sean Patrick Tario

Open Spectrum CEO Sean Patrick Tario, who founded the company in 2006, will lead the new division. He praised the master agent’s engineering approach.

“While most master agencies today are attempting to create the illusion that their agents can become experts in all IT engineering disciplines, MicroCorp has chosen to take a more strategic approach that creates far greater value to both agencies and their customers,” he said. “Within MicroCorp, our focus will be on cloud and hybrid hosting solutions. We now bring strategic account engagement, training, market intelligence, marketing collateral and industry expertise to the table on-demand for all MicroCorp partners.”

MicroCorp launched a new partner portal last month to provide better back-office visibility for partners. The company also joined the TPx national partner program this year and hired an SD-WAN “architect.”