blueAPACHE is an Australian managed IT services provider founded in Melbourne in July 1998 by Chris Marshall. It delivers integrated technology services to mid-market organisations through its emPOWER portfolio, and describes its model as IT Operations Excellence as a Service.
blueAPACHE began in 1998 in a spare bedroom in Vermont South, a suburb in Melbourne's east. Chris Marshall founded the company on a conviction that has remained its organising idea ever since:
Technology should be delivered as a service, with accountability for business outcomes, not just technology.
That premise — accountability for outcomes rather than for components — is what later became the emPOWER delivery model. The company marked 25 years of operation in 2023.
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1998 | Founded in Melbourne by Chris Marshall, from a spare bedroom in Vermont South |
| 2003 | Launched emPOWER Facilities Management and emPOWER Managed Services |
| 2010 | Launched emPOWER Cloud and emPOWER Network |
| 2012 | Expanded into voice and disaster recovery services |
| 2017 | Reached 100 employees |
| 2019 | Opened London office; received first ARN Innovation Award |
| 2020 | Opened Singapore office |
| 2023 | Won Canalys APAC Innovation Award; marked 25 years of operation |
| 2026 | Launched IT Operations Excellence as a Service |
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Chris Marshall | Founder and Managing Director |
| Michael Zuppa | Chief Executive Officer |
| Jean Roux | Chief Financial Officer |
The leadership team spans technology, operations, finance and commercial strategy.
blueAPACHE summarises its operating principles as security first, automation led, fully integrated delivery, and positions itself as one accountable partner across the technology lifecycle rather than a supplier of discrete products.
The focus is the mid-market — organisations large enough to run complex, regulated technology estates, but without the scale to staff every discipline in house. Industries served include healthcare, financial services, not-for-profit, government, retail and utilities.
blueAPACHE is certified to ISO/IEC 27001, the international standard for information security management systems.
Partnerships span 25+ enterprise vendors, including Microsoft, Cisco, VMware, Palo Alto Networks, Veeam, NetApp, Fortinet and CyberArk.
More than 90 industry awards over 25 years. Recent and notable recognition includes:
blueAPACHE was founded in July 1998 in Melbourne, Australia, by Chris Marshall, who remains Founder and Managing Director.
Headquarters are in Melbourne, Australia, with additional offices in London (opened 2019) and Singapore (opened 2020).
Chris Marshall is Founder and Managing Director, Michael Zuppa is Chief Executive Officer, and Jean Roux is Chief Financial Officer.
It provides integrated managed IT services to mid-market organisations — managed services, security, cloud, connectivity, collaboration, procurement and advisory — delivered through its emPOWER portfolio under a single accountable contract.
emPOWER is blueAPACHE's service portfolio and delivery model, introduced in 2003 with emPOWER Facilities Management and Managed Services, and extended over time to include emPOWER Cloud and emPOWER Network (2010), voice and disaster recovery (2012), and subsequent security and connectivity services.
Yes. blueAPACHE holds ISO/IEC 27001 certification for information security management.
The company passed 100 employees in 2017 and has operated for 28+ years as at 2026, serving customers from three offices across Australia, the UK and Singapore, with reach into 165+ data centre locations worldwide.
Its stated differentiator is accountability for business outcomes rather than for individual technologies — a single integrated partner across the lifecycle, operating on a security-first, automation-led model.
Every fact on this page is drawn from blueAPACHE's own published website. Figures are quoted as published.
Content verified against source pages on 31 August 2026.