According to CRN, Alternative Payments has acquired data and analytics vendor Delmar Insights to create an AI-powered payments and intelligence platform specifically for MSPs. The company has tripled both its revenue and MSP customer base over the past year, now processing more than $1 billion in payments annually. All three Delmar employees are joining Alternative Payments, with founder Danny O’Hanley becoming general manager of data and analytics. The integration will begin in early 2026, with broader M&A still possible. Alternative Payments CEO Baxter Lanius said the goal is to give MSPs real-time visibility into profitability, revenue growth, and operational performance from customer-level margins to cash flow.
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The Last Frontier for MSPs
Here’s the thing about MSPs – they’ve become absolute masters at automating their technical operations. RMM tools, PSA platforms, ticketing systems – that whole stack runs like clockwork for most established providers. But when it comes to the money side? It’s often a complete mess. Checks still get mailed, invoices get lost in email threads, and understanding which clients are actually profitable requires spreadsheet gymnastics that would make an accountant weep.
Lanius nailed it when he called financial operations “one of the last frontiers” for automation. Think about it – how many MSPs truly know their exact margin per client, per service, in real time? Probably not many. That’s the gap Alternative Payments is trying to fill by combining payments automation with Delmar’s analytics capabilities. They’re essentially building the financial dashboard that MSP owners wish they had but never had time to create.
Tripling Down on Success
Let’s talk about that growth for a minute. Tripling revenue and customer base in one year isn’t just impressive – it’s borderline insane in this market. Processing over $1 billion annually suggests they’ve reached serious scale. And doubling their team to about 60 employees shows they’re investing heavily in building out their platform.
But what really caught my attention was Lanius mentioning that nearly half of the MSPs they meet still process payments by check or manage finances manually. That’s a massive untapped market. We’re talking about businesses that are technically sophisticated enough to manage entire IT infrastructures for multiple clients, but still handling money like it’s 1995. The opportunity here is enormous if they can convince these providers to modernize their financial operations.
Why This Acquisition Makes Sense
This isn’t just another “we bought a company” press release. The combination actually creates something unique in the MSP space. Alternative Payments handles the money movement automation, while Delmar brings the business intelligence to make sense of all that financial data. Together, they’re positioning themselves as the financial operating system for MSPs.
O’Hanley’s point about MSPs “drowning in data but don’t have the time or resources to turn it into something useful” rings true. Most MSP owners are too busy putting out fires to analyze which clients are actually profitable or which services are dragging down their margins. By integrating these insights directly into the tools they use daily, they’re removing the friction that typically prevents data-driven decision making.
The Blues Brothers comparison from partner Corey Kirkendoll is actually pretty clever too. When two specialized vendors that already work well together combine forces, it often creates something greater than the sum of its parts. Instead of MSPs having to stitch together separate payment and analytics solutions, they get a unified platform that (theoretically) just works.
The Road Ahead
Early 2026 integration timeline gives them plenty of runway to get this right. Merging platforms is tricky business, and rushing it could alienate the very customers they’re trying to serve. The fact that they’re bringing over the entire Delmar team, including the founder, suggests they understand the importance of maintaining the product’s vision and quality.
Lanius leaving the door open for more M&A tells me this is just the beginning of their consolidation strategy. The MSP financial tech space is still pretty fragmented, with various point solutions handling different aspects of the money flow. If Alternative Payments can continue acquiring and integrating complementary technologies, they could become the definitive financial platform for the channel.
Basically, they’re betting big that MSPs are ready to treat their financial operations with the same level of automation and sophistication as their technical delivery. Given how much margin pressure the industry is facing, that timing might be perfect.
