More Microsoft Channel Consolidation: Avanade Buys En'tegrate

Terms of the deal weren't disclosed. Both companies are privately held.

The purchase would give Seattle-based Avanade, a global Microsoft integrator, more business applications expertise. En'tegrate sold its ERP Complete Axapta configuration tool to Microsoft last month.

"Growing customer demand and ERP industry consolidation create an opportunity for Avanade to help companies that are seeking an alternative to large-scale ERP systems," Avanade CEO Mitch Hill said in a statement.

Microsoft's channel has been rife with merger-and acquisition-activity for more than a year. The Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS) space has been particularly active as solution providers try to bulk up to cover more of the five MBS lines--Great Plains, Microsoft CRM, Axapta, Navision and Solomon--or to combine MBS expertise with Microsoft "Classic" infrastructure and productivity application talents. Axapta is the ERP solution that Microsoft targets at larger companies.

Last June, Interlink and Equarius merged around the same time that Tectura made its 10th purchase in two years. A month later, ePartners and EYT combined forces.

The latest acquisition flurry came just days before MBS hosts its annual Convergence conference in San Diego.