A Nerd’s Eye View On Inform Sydney and Melbourne

They say travel broadens the mind, and when I was asked to attend and present at the N‑able Inform events in Sydney and Melbourne recently, I jumped at the chance. Being based in EMEA, I’m very familiar with the state of the industry across this region, and while I wouldn’t call myself an expert on North America, I’ve had plenty of customer interactions there to keep a strong pulse on what’s happening. But APAC? That was the one region I hadn’t had much direct exposure to, until now.

This trip was a fantastic opportunity to finally meet some of our APAC customers face to face, hear their stories, understand their challenges, and explore how we as Head Nerds and N‑able as a whole can better support them. After every Empower event, I share my « Nerd’s Eye View » blog to reflect on what I saw and learned. So after a week immersed in Australia with our Inform events, I thought why not do the same here?

Setting the stage

After a warm welcome from our Senior Director of Sales for APAC, Matthew Drake, the stage was handed over to Mike Alder, our Chief Technical and Product Officer at N‑able. Mike kicked things off with a powerful look at the changing beats of IT and how N‑able is helping customers secure their future in an increasingly complex threat landscape.

One of the standout moments was Mike’s video and discussion on the reality of modern hackers. It shattered the outdated Hollywood image of a lone figure in a hoodie operating in the shadows. Instead, he painted a much more sobering picture: hacking today is often carried out by enterprise-level operations, many of them state-sponsored, with the resources to target and exploit vulnerabilities at massive scale. One stat that really stuck with me: China’s cyber operators outnumber FBI agents 50 to 1.

As an avid baseball fan, I also appreciated Mike’s analogy, when it comes to cybersecurity: you have to bat a thousand. In other words, we need to be perfect every single time, while attackers only have to succeed once. And that « one » could come from hundreds of millions of attempts. It really drives home the scale and urgency of the threat we’re all up against, and why it’s vital we do everything in our power to protect the customers and end users who rely on us.

Understanding the scale of the challenge

That’s why patching is such a critical area of focus moving forward. Right now, there are 133 newly disclosed vulnerabilities every single day, and we’re seeing a 138% year-over-year growth in vulnerabilities. Detecting and remediating those issues quickly is absolutely essential. Mike laid out how N‑able is doubling down on vulnerability detection and patch management, and shared a preview of what we’re building to support our customers in securing their environments more effectively.

He also didn’t shy away from addressing one of the biggest challenges in security; us. As Mike bluntly put it: Users Suck. We are, unfortunately, often the weakest link. No matter how many technical safeguards are in place, it’s often a human who opens the wrong email, clicks the wrong link, or makes the one mistake that gives attackers a way in. So in addition to strengthening our infrastructure, we also need intelligent, responsive tools that can help protect against that human element.

That’s where solutions like N‑able MDR powered by Adlumin come in. As threats evolve and the human factor remains a critical vulnerability, managed detection and response plays an increasingly vital role in helping our partners catch issues early, respond quickly, and stay one step ahead of the attackers, no matter where the weak point may be.

Learning from past lessons

Like all N‑able events, Inform is shaped by your feedback. We know you’re taking valuable time out of your work week to join us, and we’re committed to making that time count. One recurring theme from previous years was that we were trying to be all things to all people, so this year, we took that to heart.

At Inform 2025, we introduced dedicated breakout sessions, designed to give attendees more choice and more value based on their roles and priorities. On the business side, we featured an engaging AI innovation workshop hosted by Laura Dubois GVP of Product Management along with Head Nerd Marc Andre Tanguay, as well as a peer panel on pricing and packaging, brilliantly hosted by Ryan Spillane, which sparked some lively, practical discussion. On the technical track, Lewis Pope and I offered deep dives into N‑central, N‑sight RMM, Cove, and the evolving world of EDR/XDR/MDR, focusing on how to get the most out of these end-to-end cybersecurity solutions in real-world environments.

And of course, it wouldn’t be an N‑able event without a peek into the future, and Laura and Marc-Andre certainly delivered. They wrapped things up with an extensive look at the product roadmaps across our entire portfolio, offering valuable insight into where we’re headed and how we’re continuing to evolve in response to your needs.

But the standout session for me and I’m sure, for many others in the room was the panel discussion hosted by Troels Emil Hojlund-Rasmussen, our General Manager for Security and Corporate Development, alongside my fellow Head Nerd, Lewis Pope. The topic: Transform Your Security Offering with MDR.

The real world view

I always find it fascinating to hear directly from our customers about the real-world challenges they’re facing in the security space and how they’re adapting. In the APAC region, it’s clear that cyber insurance policies are becoming a major driver for implementing more robust safeguards. Several attendees even noted that collaborating with insurance brokers has opened the door to new business opportunities.

There was so much to take away from this session, far too much to list here. You really had to be in the room. But a few standout insights for me included:

• Lee Shrimpton, Director at Comwire IT, shared that one of the hardest security decisions they face is saying “No” to customers. But it’s a necessary one. They’ve made a clear commitment to uphold their standards, no leniency, no exceptions. It’s a firm but essential stance in today’s security landscape.
• Jamie Bekkers, Managing Director at Bekkers, highlighted a smart contractual approach they don’t name vendors in their contracts. This gives them the flexibility to switch to more effective solutions as the threat landscape evolves and ensures they’re always offering what’s best for their customers.
• Stuart Green, Director at Neveco, spoke about how MDR is now a minimum requirement for all their clients. On top of that, Neveco has achieved ISO 27001 certification, underlining that they truly walk the walk when it comes to implementing top-tier security practices for both themselves and their growing customer base. Stuart also emphasized that, moving forward, every MSP should be ISO certified, a bold but meaningful standard for the industry.

It was an absolute privilege to attend Inform this year. I came away from the week not only more informed, but also more connected to the challenges and opportunities shaping the IT landscape in the APAC region. I had countless conversations with customers, each one insightful and I’ve got plenty of follow-ups to keep me busy, as I’m sure many others do as well.

If you’re based in APAC and get the chance to attend a future Inform event, don’t miss it. It’s a unique opportunity to connect, learn, and leave with actionable ideas to help grow your business. And if you’re looking for something bigger, Empower 2026 will be taking place in Fort Lauderdale in April next year, a great chance to join the global N‑able community. Otherwise, keep an eye on the N‑able Events Page for upcoming sessions in a city closer to home and hopefully I’ll see you there.

Paul Kelly is the Head Nerd for N‑central at N‑able. You can follow him on Twitter at @HeadNerdPaul, LinkedIn and Reddit at u/Paul _Kelly. Alternatively you can email me direct.