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Data asset discovery and classification vendor Cavelo was founded in 2020 to alleviate budgetary and skill restrictions that keep businesses from securing their organizations. In 2024, the company shifted to focus entirely on operating through the channel with MSP, MSSP, and VAR relationships. Channel Insider spoke with Cavelo CEO James Mignacca to learn more about the process a vendor undertakes to build a channel focus and how the company knew the time was right to do so.
Cavelo was founded with the channel in mind from day one
Mignacca has had experience on both sides of the vendor and solutions provider partnership over the past decade of his career. After spending several years at a security vendor, he successfully led a team in acquiring an MSP and eventually turning it into a successful MSSP. He then ultimately exited that organization to build a solution he said he couldn’t find himself.
“When you are selling to an MSP you have to understand that MSP is selling to sometimes hundreds of people, and most products are not built for MSPs,” Mignacca said.
The several lessons he learned ultimately led him back to the vendor side, though Cavelo took nearly four years to fully embrace the channel. According to Mignacca, that was a deliberate plan that he felt would best position the company to achieve his long-term vision for success.
“I end up doing things too soon a lot,” Mignacca said. “When we launched the product, we went direct first so we could get feedback from the end-user and determine what our value prop with them really was. We built a channel program pretty early on but then this year shifted fully to the point where every sale comes through a partner.”
The Cavelo platform focuses on managing the attack surface primarily as it relates to customer data through capabilities in data classification, asset discovery, vulnerability risk management, and identity access management. The platform integrates with popular third-party tools and offers MSPs and other channel businesses the ability to view, configure, and address issues for all of their customers in one place.
“We’re not a service, we’re a pure play product that MSPs can wrap their services around,” said Mignacca.
Vendors who succeed in the channel are aware of partner concerns, needs
To the Cavelo team, operating within the channel is not as easy as simply selling to MSPs and then focusing attention elsewhere. It is a long-term strategy that encapsulates selling, go to market strategies, support, and a robust partnership with solutions providers who want the best for their clients.
“I don’t want to hire hundreds of sales people, but people like buying from other people,” Mignacca said. “That’s what this channel ecosystem can really give you. Business owners like buying from people, and MSPs can be those people on your behalf within the broader ecosystem.”
Mignaca pointed out that the broader channel ecosystem can act as a force multiplier for vendors looking to expand their sales, but MSPs need to understand how a product fits into their offerings and how best to sell the solution to their clients.
“We help our partners do this. We don’t just throw the product over the fence and move on,” Mignacca said. “We need to give them the proper resources and enable them to go to market more efficiently, and that helps all of us succeed.”
Cavelo rolls out CIS controls for M365 and other tools to address security landscape
In early December, the company announced new capabilities which discover misconfigurations and apply Center for Internet Security (CIS) benchmarks to Microsoft Office 365 environments. The new solution joins other capabilities within the platform to help MSPs utilize a variety of compliance frameworks to align their clients to best practices and security requirements. The announcement comes as compliance continues to become an important aspect of security for MSPs and customers.
“Our partnership with Cavelo reinforces our commitment to delivering cutting-edge cybersecurity solutions to our clients,” said Vinod Paul, the president of Align Managed Services. “The new CIS benchmark capabilities for Microsoft Office 365 allow us to provide even greater value, helping businesses mitigate cloud misconfigurations and align with industry standards to strengthen their overall security posture.”
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