Scaling Growth Without Compromise: How ACR, Microsoft, and Ontinue Are Redefining Cyber Resilience Through M&A

Published June 22, 2026

In today’s business environment, growth and cyber resilience can no longer be treated as separate priorities. For organizations pursuing aggressive acquisition strategies, the ability to integrate new businesses quickly while maintaining a strong security posture has become a strategic imperative.

ACR, a leading supplier to the food service and hospitality industries, understands this challenge firsthand. Since 2016, the company has completed ten acquisitions, accelerating growth while expanding its operational footprint and digital ecosystem. Each acquisition introduced new identities, devices, applications, and data environments that needed to be integrated without disrupting business operations.

In a recent Microsoft Insights discussion, leaders from ACR, Microsoft, and Ontinue explored how a modern security operating model has enabled ACR to scale confidently, transform securely, and maintain business continuity throughout its growth journey. Their experience highlights an increasingly important lesson for today’s executives: cybersecurity is no longer just about protection, it is a critical enabler of business transformation.

The Business Imperative: Making Security Part of the Growth Strategy

For organizations pursuing mergers and acquisitions, security cannot wait until integration is complete. The window between acquisition and operational integration often creates new exposures, increasing complexity at the very moment when the business needs to move fastest.

For ACR, whose success depends on operational continuity and supply chain reliability, cybersecurity became a foundational component of its growth strategy. Rather than viewing security as a compliance requirement or post-acquisition activity, ACR embedded security considerations into the integration process from the outset.

This approach allowed the organization to accelerate business outcomes while reducing risk; a balance every CIO, CISO, and board seeks to achieve.

Realizing the Full Value of Microsoft Security Investments

Like many organizations, ACR had already invested significantly in Microsoft’s security ecosystem.

The challenge was not acquiring additional security tools; it was maximizing the value of the capabilities already in place.

This is where the collaboration between Microsoft and Ontinue proved instrumental.

Together, Microsoft and Ontinue helped ACR transform a collection of powerful security technologies into a fully operationalized security program. By combining Microsoft’s industry-leading security platform with Ontinue’s AI-powered managed detection and response expertise, ACR gained the ability to continuously monitor, investigate, and respond to threats while reducing the burden on internal teams.

The result was not simply better security controls; it was a more resilient and scalable operating model aligned with the company’s business objectives.

As a Microsoft-first MDR provider, Ontinue works closely with Microsoft to help joint customers unlock greater value from their security investments. This collaboration enables organizations like ACR to accelerate adoption, improve operational effectiveness, and strengthen cyber resilience while maintaining alignment with Microsoft’s rapidly evolving security innovations.

Turning Security into a Growth Enabler

The business outcomes of this approach are compelling.

According to published case study results, ACR achieved:

• A 50% reduction in mean time to investigate security incidents
• A 28% improvement in Microsoft Secure Score
• Zero security breaches in 2024 despite increasing operational complexity
• Consistent two-month acquisition integration timelines across acquired businesses

These achievements demonstrate that security maturity and business agility are not competing priorities. When security is operationalized effectively, it becomes a catalyst for faster integration, improved resilience, and greater organizational confidence.

Rather than slowing growth, security helps make growth more sustainable.

Preparing for the AI Era of Cybersecurity

As digital transformation accelerates, security leaders face a rapidly changing threat landscape.

Artificial intelligence is reshaping both sides of cybersecurity, enabling more sophisticated attacks while simultaneously creating new opportunities for defense.

Organizations must now secure not only traditional infrastructure but also emerging AI ecosystems that include data pipelines, agents, models, prompts, plugins, and cloud-native services. The resulting increase in complexity makes manual security operations increasingly difficult to sustain.

Microsoft has consistently emphasized the need for AI-powered defense in an AI-driven threat landscape. Ontinue shares that vision, combining advanced AI capabilities with expert human oversight to improve detection, investigation, and response outcomes.

For ACR, this approach has allowed security teams to focus less on routine operational tasks and more on strategic initiatives that support business growth. AI enhances speed and scale, while human expertise provides the judgment necessary to make informed decisions when it matters most.

A Blueprint for Security-Led Growth

The story of ACR, Microsoft, and Ontinue illustrates a broader shift occurring across industries.

Leading organizations are no longer approaching cybersecurity as a standalone technology function. Instead, they are building security operating models that support transformation, accelerate innovation, and strengthen business resilience.

For executives navigating growth through mergers and acquisitions, several lessons stand out:

• Integrate security early in the acquisition lifecycle.
• Maximize the value of existing technology investments before adding complexity.
• Leverage AI to enhance security operations while retaining human expertise.
• Build strategic partnerships that align technology, operations, and business outcomes.

Most importantly, recognize that cybersecurity is no longer merely a defensive capability. It is a strategic business enabler.

Through the combined strengths of Microsoft, Ontinue, and forward-thinking leaders like ACR, organizations can move faster, integrate more effectively, and scale with confidence, securely protecting their business, their employees, and their customers every step of the way.

To hear how this approach comes to life in practice, watch the full Microsoft Insights webinar featuring Thai Vong (CIO at ACR), Ryan McDonald (GTM Security Solutions Lead at Microsoft), and Kirk Greene (MXDR Expert at Ontinue). The discussion explores how ACR operationalized security to support rapid growth while maintaining resilience.