First Focus Picks Up Wellington MSP Resolve Technology

Managed IT and AI services provider First Focus has acquired Resolve Technology, a Wellington-based managed IT services provider, extending the trans-Tasman group’s New Zealand operations into the capital.

The deal adds Resolve’s team and client base to a New Zealand business that already covers Auckland, Nelson, Dunedin and Christchurch, where First Focus employs more than 100 staff. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Resolve, founded in 2007, works with law firms, health providers, community organisations and other regulated businesses where reliability, security, privacy and data sovereignty shape technology decisions.

Its services span managed IT support, managed hosting, cloud, cyber security, Microsoft 365 and SharePoint, AI readiness, digital forensics and privacy services.

Wellington Fills A Gap In The Map

First Focus has supported New Zealand clients for more than a decade, but Wellington had remained a gap in its national coverage.

First Focus Managing Director, Ross Sardi, described the city as “an important next location for us in New Zealand”, pointing to Resolve’s experience across the legal and healthcare sectors as a complement to the wider group.

The acquisition follows a pattern common among mid-market managed service providers in Australia and New Zealand, where scale is being assembled through regional acquisitions rather than greenfield offices.

For First Focus, the appeal is a team already embedded in a market dominated by government agencies, professional services firms and health providers, all of which carry compliance obligations that make local delivery a selling point.

Continuity For Resolve Clients

Resolve clients will keep their existing relationships and support arrangements, with access to First Focus capability across AI, automation, cyber security, cloud and 24×7 managed services to be introduced progressively.

Resolve Founder, Simon Falconer, will stay on with First Focus and continue working with clients alongside the wider New Zealand team.

According to Falconer, the sale process was less about whether to take on a partner than about which one to take on.

“The question wasn’t whether to bring in a partner, but which one would be worth joining. First Focus was the clear answer. They have roots in New Zealand, more than 100 specialists across the country and, importantly, decisions about New Zealand clients and people are made here in New Zealand,” he commented.

He framed the transition in terms of what does not change for existing customers.

“For our clients, continuity comes first: the same relationships and people they trust, with considerably more depth and capability behind them.”

AI Advisory Work Moves To The Centre

Falconer will take on a vCAIO, or virtual Chief AI Officer, role, focused on helping clients work out where AI can be applied and then putting it into production.

That element of the deal was central to the rationale, according to Sardi, who pointed to demand from clients seeking practical help identifying where AI can improve their business and then implementing it properly.

“Simon staying on in a vCAIO role was a big part of what made this a good fit,” he added, referencing the group’s work with CORE.

“Simon’s experience will strengthen our ability to deliver that same success to more clients across New Zealand.”

The virtual advisory model, already familiar to the channel through vCIO and vCISO engagements, is being adapted by managed service providers as clients look for guidance on AI adoption without hiring a full-time executive to oversee it.

Falconer indicated he intends to take that work beyond the professional services firms he has been advising to date.

Building Out The Trans-Tasman Group

Founded in 2003, First Focus positions itself as a managed AI and IT services provider working with organisations across Australia and New Zealand.

Resolve has built its business on long-term client relationships and a stated philosophy of making IT simple, with a focus on organisations carrying complex security, privacy and compliance requirements.

Sector specialisation is increasingly the differentiator among managed service providers competing for regulated clients, where data sovereignty questions and privacy obligations narrow the field of suppliers a law firm or health provider will consider.

For Resolve customers, the near-term change is limited. The longer-term proposition is access to a larger engineering bench, a round-the-clock service desk and a security practice of a scale a single-city provider would struggle to fund on its own.

Last Updated on September 9, 2026 by Nick Ross