Independent advice
We have no entrenched interests. We recommend what fits your environment, not what fits a line card.
The Challenger VAR
Better Technology. Better Economics. Zero BS.
Buying cybersecurity software is harder than it should be. Too many vendors. Too much noise. Too many margins you never see. Cualified is changing the rules.
We've negotiated with the best in the business
EveNeo Security
Abnormal AIAegisAIBlackCloakSublime SecurityVenice SecurityCyeraTeleskopeClover SecurityDryRun SecurityEndor LabsFinite StateGhost SecurityImpart SecuritySocketKnox SystemsObsidian SecurityUpwind SecurityWizCrowdStrikedope.securityFleet Device Management
Glow SecurityHalcyonLayerXSentinelOneSophosCrogl
CybleMalloryAIRapid7Realm SecurityCymulateGambit SecurityBolsterDoppelA SecurityBlueVoyantSygnia
Abnormal AIAegisAIBlackCloakSublime SecurityVenice SecurityCyeraTeleskopeClover SecurityDryRun SecurityEndor LabsFinite StateGhost SecurityImpart SecuritySocketKnox SystemsObsidian SecurityUpwind SecurityWizCrowdStrikedope.securityFleet Device ManagementGlow SecurityHalcyonLayerXSentinelOneSophosCroglCybleMalloryAIRapid7Realm SecurityCymulateGambit SecurityBolsterDoppelA SecurityBlueVoyantSygnia VAR used to mean Value Added Reseller. We think it should mean Value Advisory Resource.
A reseller sells product. An advisor helps you decide what to buy, when to buy it, and what to pay for it. We can handle the research, the paperwork, and the negotiation of the purchase for our clients. The work that matters happens long before the purchase order.
Where we deliver.
Emerging technology
Our CISO community and our ties to the venture capital world show us the next wave of security companies early. You get them on your shortlist before they go mainstream.
Transparent pricing
No hidden margins. You see the economic benefits, and you experience firsthand where we built leverage for you.
Real relationships
You work with the founders. Direct access to leadership from the first call to the renewal.
The Big VAR Playbook Is Broken
The questions big VARs hope you don't ask.
- 01Do you know what margin your VAR adds to every quote?
- 02Do they bring you new technology, or the same line card every year?
- 03Will they take on the complex, low-margin projects that matter to you?
- 04Are they in the room when you plan a project, or only when it's time to sign?
If you didn't like your answers, here is the difference.
Quote comparison
EDR platform · 2,400 endpointsOne quote, two resellers
| Line item | Big VAR | Cualified |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor list price | $380,000 | $380,000 |
| Deal registration discount | 30%−$114,000 | 30%−$114,000 |
| Vendor net price | $266,000 | $266,000 |
| Reseller margin | 20%+$66,500 | 5%+$14,000 |
| Your price, 3 years | $332,500 | $280,000 |
You keep $52,500 This is just a hypothetical example and not a true quoting tool.
The Big VAR Playbook The Cualified Way
Opaque margins Transparent economics
Established vendor bias Independent technology evaluation
Transaction-focused Relationship-focused
Large account teams Direct access to the founders
Reactive renewals A proactive renewal strategy that builds your leverage
Sales-driven recommendations Practitioner-informed decisions
What the Cualified approach means for you
Running legacy tools? We know what replaces them.
We have no entrenched interests. When a tool stops earning its spot, we tell you, and we know who belongs on the shortlist instead.
- MDM We know what replaces it
- SCA We know what replaces it
- Vulnerability management We know what replaces it
- CAASM We know what replaces it
- Secure email gateway We know what replaces it
- TPRM We know what replaces it
- PAM We know what replaces it
- IAM We know what replaces it
- Security awareness training We know what replaces it
- SASE / SWG We know what replaces it
- Manual pentesting We know what replaces it
- Observability / SecOps We know what replaces it
- WAF / API security We know what replaces it
- MDR We know what replaces it
- Backups We know what replaces it
- IR retainer We know what replaces it
- AI security and governance We know what replaces it
- Privacy compliance We know what replaces it
The Emerging Tech Radar
We discover tomorrow's cybersecurity leaders today.
We keep our finger on the pulse of new technology solutions, so you don't have to. We don't chase funding totals. We look at the quality of the founders and the quality of the funders: proven builders, backed by proven investors. Here's who's on our radar right now.
Adaptive Security
Email and human risk
- Why it's on our radar
- Security awareness training rebuilt for AI-powered attacks, with realistic simulations of deepfakes and social engineering. Backed by a16z and the OpenAI Startup Fund.
- Ideal customer
- Teams replacing legacy security awareness training, especially where executives and finance staff are targets.
AegisAI
Email and human risk
- Why it's on our radar
- AI-native email security built by Google security veterans to stop AI-generated spear phishing. Series A led by Battery Ventures.
- Ideal customer
- Teams rethinking a legacy secure email gateway.
Token Security
Identity
- Why it's on our radar
- Discovers and governs non-human identities: machine credentials, API keys and service accounts across cloud and SaaS.
- Ideal customer
- Cloud-heavy organizations with sprawling service accounts.
The Cyber Security Council
Built on community. Driven by trust.
Before we built Cualified, we spent four years building The Cyber Security Council: a trust-based community for cyber leaders and practitioners in Central Texas. We built it without asking for anything in return. It still shapes everything we do for our customers. And you never have to be a Cualified customer to be part of it.
Don't take our word for it.
They don't just take a vendor/supplier quote, add their margin, and send it over to you for signing.
I've worked with the team at Cualified for years. They don't just take a vendor/supplier quote, add their margin, and send it over to you for signing. They examine your landscape with you and make strategic recommendations that keep you and your team ahead. In doing so, they repeatedly find savings for our company, whether on net new purchases or renewals and we do all our work through them because I have that level of trust with them.
Cualified is our preferred Value Added Reseller, and I'd recommend them to any strategic buyer looking for a true challenger partner.
Cualified is our preferred Value Added Reseller, and I'd recommend them to any strategic buyer looking for a true challenger partner. They put value back in the hands of the buyer, and in doing so push the entire reseller industry to understand that no two customers' needs are the same. What sets them apart is their rare blend of cyber, IT and business expertise and futuristic approach to solving problems for their customers.
Two founders. No outside investors. No one to answer to but you.
Brian Greene and Dan Piercy have built and own Cualified outright. No private equity. No investor pressure to pad a margin.
Planning a project for next year? Bring us in now.
The earlier we're in the conversation, the more leverage we can build and the better your shortlist gets.