Dicker Data adds AvePoint to Microsoft portfolio as AI adoption hinges on data governance
Data governance and AI readiness services are emerging as the next major partner opportunity.
Dicker Data has partnered with AvePoint to add its AvePoint Elements to its Microsoft portfolio. It comes as more customers are turning to partners for data protection solutions as they look to scale AI.
With Microsoft 365 adoption growing, data governance, security controls and AI readiness have often lagged behind.
“AvePoint helps address a challenge many organisations are now facing,” said Sarah Loiterton, GM Microsoft Cloud, ANZ, Dicker Data.
The platform gives partners visibility and control across customer environments, helping them manage issues such as oversharing, permissions, compliance, data protection and governance at scale.
By combining AvePoint Elements with Dicker Data’s local Microsoft capability, enablement programs and partner ecosystem, the partnership is designed to provide a scalable pathway for partners to evolve from backup and infrastructure providers into full-service data governance and AI readiness advisors.
“We see partners positioning AvePoint not as a standalone backup product, but as a platform that enables higher-value services around data governance, compliance, security and AI readiness within the Microsoft ecosystem,” said Loiterton.
The next major services opportunity for partners
Governance and AI readiness are the next major services opportunity, noted Loiterton. In particular, AvePoint’s solutions suit regulated, data-intensive industries, including public sector, financial services, healthcare and education, where demand for managed data services is increasing.
In these environments, evolving regulatory requirements, growing cyber risk and the rapid introduction of AI are driving demand for ongoing services rather than one-off projects.
“The opportunity is significant because customer conversations are increasingly shifting from simply protecting data to governing and using it safely. Infrastructure and backup remain essential, but they are no longer sufficient on their own,” she said.
As organisations adopt AI technologies, concerns around data access, compliance, privacy and governance are becoming more prominent. Loiterton pointed to AvePoint and Omdia research that found 51 percent of MSPs identify governance and compliance as the primary barrier to AI adoption.
”It highlights how demand is expanding beyond traditional infrastructure management into ongoing governance and AI readiness services,” she told CRN Australia.
One of the key reasons Dicker Data entered the partnership is to help partners build repeatable, recurring services around governance, compliance, data protection and AI readiness.
"We see opportunities for partners to deliver services such as governance assessments, AI readiness reviews, compliance monitoring, policy management, data lifecycle management and ongoing optimisation of Microsoft environments,” she said.
“AvePoint's platform is specifically designed to help MSPs standardise and operationalise these services at scale, creating long-term customer engagement models rather than one-off project opportunities,” she added.