Cavelo: Enterprise Security at MSP Prices (EP 862)

Hello friends, Uncle Marv here with another episode of the IIT Business Podcast, coming at you live from PAX 8 Beyond in Denver, Colorado, continuing on with day two. And we're coming to the end folks, we've just finished lunch, did my final swag run around the vendor hall, and we'll be analyzing them after I get home, and remember we've got two weeks of swag to go through, and they will be judged individually, so IIT Nation swag will be judged on its own, and PAX 8 swag will be judged on its own. Yeah, that's not coming out, that was me coughing.

So here we are, and I've got a guest with me here who many of you know, not just from my show, but from his many years in the channel, Larry Meador, representing Cavelo. Uncle Larry, how are you? I am doing wonderful, Uncle Marv, how are you, sir? Wonderful. That's interesting to say on day two, isn't it? It is.

My feet hurt, I can tell you that right now, I'm glad to be sitting down. You guys have been doing a lot of standing this time. We've been doing a lot of standing, a lot of walking, and like I said, it feels really good to be sitting down next to you right now.

Here we go, and yes, I am taking him away from booth time, so you've got people covering for you. I've got people covering over there, so we're still making the sales, and it's been a really, really busy, active conference with really high quality conversations, so I couldn't be happier. So we're coming up, Alan, halfway through the actual year, but we're just getting cranked up with conference season, so how are you holding up? Doing good, man.

Doing good. I'm enjoying it. Yes, I made the jump over to Cavelo in January.

I was going to get there, I was going to get there, let me go ahead and do that. Since you brought it up, let's ask, because now granted, channel chiefs move around a lot. We do.

We do. And the question really is going to be not why did you move, but why Cavelo? Why Cavelo? Well, you know, it was one of these things, I met Cavelo about three years ago, maybe four, at an ASCII conference, and Chris Shoemaker, who is one of their sales guys, kind of head of channel, he and I sat on a panel at ASCII, talking about cybersecurity and all that good stuff, and he and I just kind of formed a friendship. Well, fast forward a few months, and all of a sudden I'm meeting the CEO of Cavelo, and the head of marketing.

Is that James? Yeah, James Mignacca. Last name I can't pronounce. Mignacca.

Mignacca. It's Italian. But yeah, I met them, and it just, it kind of seemed like we were all old, lost friends.

We just really got along really well. Then James approached me last year, when I was with another firm, just said, Hey, you know, we're still new to the channel. We would love your expertise to help us kind of figure out what events we need to go to and things like that.

So I actually advised them for a while in 2024. Okay. Then as luck would have it, they approached me in January, actually December of 2024, and said, Hey, we want you on a team full time.

Would you be interested? And I said, Absolutely, I would be. And you know, to me, it was really one of those things, it's, you know, I've been doing this now almost 24 years, and, you know, 17 years with one company. And then I, you know, recently, everybody's like, you don't stay anywhere very long.

I'm like, well, I keep getting nice offers. And so I move around. But Cavelo has been the best move I've made.

Really, I'm really, really, really happy with this. We've got a lot of good things going on. But really, what it was about is, at my age, it's I want a good culture fit.

And that's exactly what I found at Cavelo is the culture is phenomenal. They, you know, were a former MSP themselves that sold off the MSP business when I was going to say their history doesn't just start. I think their program, their partner program started around 2022.

Yeah, but they grew out of the MSP. So it sounds like for a couple of years, they were trying to, you know, figure themselves out until they found you exactly in 24. Exactly.

And so they said, you know, 2025 is the year of Cavelo coming out. And so we're doing a lot more events. They'd only done up last year, I think maybe six events in this year were signed up so far for 2021 22 events.

OK, so, you know, going back to that's an investment. It is. It is.

But boy, it's been paying off. Now it really has. We're getting some real quick turnaround after going to these events and getting some people on board. 

All right. And for the listeners that do not know Cavelo is an attack surface management platform. You got it. 

And a lot of discovery, a lot of your typical things that you would think of when it comes to that. But you guys have a little bit of a twist. Yes, we do. 

Tell us what that is. You know, we like you said, it's a lot about discovery. So we're going to help the MSPs go out there and basically look like a magician to their clients because we're going to help you find all those assets that are out there, whether they're known or unknown.

We're going to help go find where all of that sensitive data lies on those assets. We're also going to be able to show you who's had access to that data, who has moved that around. So if you think about it and you're in HR, you just fired somebody.

Now you can easily go in there and see exactly what data that person might have made a copy of or moved around or something like that. We also have vulnerability management built into it. So we take a different approach.

We just really now that we've identified the assets and where all that sensitive data is, we're going to help the MSP triage all the CVEs that are out there because you want to focus your efforts on the machines that have the sensitive data versus the machines that don't or the assets, I should say, not machines, whatever. But so we help them do that. And then we just launched configuration management.

Matter of fact, the press release was yesterday. And I didn't get it. Why? I'm not on your list.

Well, you know, we'll take care of that. I'll get you on the list next time. But yeah, with the configuration management, we're doing basically automated configuration management for Office 365, automated remediation on configuration.

So it's going to be a huge time saver. And that's really what we're all about is just saving the MSPs time and making things real easy and real visible for them to show their customers. So the reports look fantastic.

And we also build in the IBM cost of breach data. So MSPs can now start talking business outcomes and real world dollars and cents rather than talk tech with the clients. And they can now show them, say, look, Mr. and Mrs. Client, this is what you potentially may be on the hook for.

Here's what your data is potentially worth to a hacker. So now that we've identified everything, let's help you get it protected. OK, so you've just mentioned several items that are, in a sense, different products, because there are some vulnerability products out there that will tell you which CVS you're missing, but maybe not help you patch it.

There is, of course, network devices that will tell you what's on the network, discovery for you. And you're actually talking about being able to not only identify data but help calculate the cost of that data. Yes, sir.

That's all interesting. Now, is your vulnerability, is it just discovery or can you actually push some patching through that? It is mainly discovery. And we've got some things on the horizon that are going to help automate some of that patching.

And, you know, again, we're out there to, the way we look at things is, as you were just saying, you know, there's lots of tools out there. We want to be able to help you guys simplify your tech stack. If we can't go and replace two of your tools with just our one platform, it may not be worth it for you.

So we're really trying to help you kind of consolidate things, shrink that tech stack down. And the other thing, I mean, we're built from the ground up by a former MSP for MSPs. So we try to make it real easy.

You can buy the whole bundle that gets you everything that we do. Or if you don't want to quite go that route and you just want one or two modules, we can modularize everything. Okay, that sounds good.

I'll ask the sensitive question. Is the pricing decent? Pricing is very decent. Pricing? Our partners tell us that because, you know, the quality that we provide on the data discovery side is up there with a Tenable or a Qualys.

I mean, we've already done numerous studies on that. We're finding data that many of the platforms here in the channel are not finding. So we're given enterprise level quality on the data discovery and all of that fun stuff at MSP level prices with multi-tenancy built in, all of that good stuff.

What you guys need? All right. Now you've listened to the show, so you know I'm with another asset, another attack management product, right? I know you are. Yes, sir.

I listen all the time. I just wanted to do that disclaimer so that... Not a problem. Now, you've been around a while.

You've seen a lot of the products and stuff. The trend now is to do exactly what you guys are doing. Right.

Trying to find a way to provide a single tool that can replace multiple other tools because we're getting hammered with agents and this and just too many dashboards and stuff. Not thinking just Cavelo, this is me thinking of you as a thought leader in the industry now. How do you see that really translating? Is it working? Are we moving in the right direction? Are the vendors and products doing what they say they're supposed to do? Boy, that's a loaded question.

Let me dance around this one as best I can. Some of us are, but not all of us. I mean, like I told you before you even brought this up, our view when we're talking with an MSP is if we can't replace at least two of their tools, hopefully more, then maybe we're not the right platform for them.

And, you know, to me, it's a refreshing approach. We're not hardcore trying to sell everybody and just say, Hey, my product is for you. You know, we really try to vet you out.

Talk about what your pain points are, what you're trying to do, show you what we, what our capabilities are, and hopefully there's a match there and we move forward. Okay. Nice dance.

No, I'm trying, you know, every once in a while, I still got a few moves in me still. And we'll see those on display tonight. Oh my God.

Hopefully the cameras won't be rolling. Well, the floor won't be moving. Oh, yes, it will.

If you were here last year, you know exactly. Well, it's not the same room. Oh, it's not.

No, no, I did not know that you're behind in the show. I've been showing a video that I asked Rob about that a couple weeks ago. And he said, Nope, it's a different place.

Ah, so no more moving floor. Yeah, because last year we were all sitting there going, Oh my gosh, we're all going to be on the nightly news. Yeah, the floor collapses.

And yeah, I've got a video holding a drink, standing perfectly still. Yeah, you could just see it bouncing around. So very interesting there.

Um, all right. So you've of course done this before. I believe you've been to all three of the Beyonds as well, right? Yes, sir.

I have. Um, how does this one compare? Um, because I'm going to try to see how close Rob is to saying that this is the largest conference in the world. Um, what do you think? You know, like you said, I've been here all three, all three years.

Each year it's gotten bigger and better. And this year definitely is the biggest, um, in terms of the people that I have seen, the people that we've talked to just seeing people in the halls. And I don't know how Rob and his team and the Facts 8 folks do it, but it just keeps getting better.

It's so well put together. The content is fantastic. Um, and that's not just me as a vendor saying that obviously I have to pay money to be here.

Um, you know, I'm hearing that from the attendants, you know, cause we would like to find out, you know, is this going to be worth our while to come back next year? So we asked the attendees, you know, how do you feel about it?” And I have heard nothing but absolutely fantastic reviews of what they've seen so far. Now coming in as a vendor, yeah, you got to spend the money. Yep.

You gotta be at the booth, all of that stuff. But what is it that you guys get to experience that would stand out, you know, in terms of making this great for you guys? You know, and I think really what it boils down to, look, we all know this is a relationship business. And for me personally, it's just good to get out here and sit down face to face.

Just like you and I are talking right now, even though we're doing this for a podcast, but you know, I've sat down and had meetings, just one-off meetings with so many people. Just it's, you only get a chance to see them every once in a while, and this is a great way to kind of get a bunch of them at once in one spot. So, all right.

Um, your booth has been busy. Our booth has been very busy. So kind of nice.

Uh, now it looks like you've had several people that are using your products already there, and they're just there chatting with you, telling you their experience and, you know, they're blocking the path for new people. So how are you managing that? You know, they do like to come by and talk with us, but what, to me, the best salesperson is a happy partner. And so oftentimes when we do have an existing partner standing in the booth and somebody else is there, I often say, let me introduce you to, you know, XYZ partner who's been with us for the past year or two, and why don't you, why don't you guys talk and see what your experiences are? And our partners are more than happy to stand there and be our salespeople.

And it's, that's really nice. That doesn't happen everywhere I've been, um, but it definitely is happening at Cavelo. So I'm real, real happy to see that.

Okay. All right. I'm going to ask one more product related question and I believe Cavelo's mission is to simplify data and risk management.

Yes, sir. My question is how in the world do you plan to do that? Well, we've got quite a bit of magic sauce built in. It's one of those things it's hard to talk about, but we can show it to you on the screen.

And that's what I've been watching happening over in our booth is we've been kind of showing this and people are like, whoa, this is a lot better than what we thought, or maybe a lot better than what we've been using. Um, so yeah. All right.

So one more question. A lot of our products have a ton of data. The hardest part that I have found is being able to take that data, translate it into a nice, readable, uh, user-friendly report for our customers.

I haven't seen your product, so I'm only asking out of ignorance. How do your reports look? I would encourage you to come by and take a look at our reports because that's one of the things that I hear again, I've only been here since January, so I'm still kind of drinking through that fire hose, but what our partners typically lead off with is you make this so easy to show our customers what's going on because you put it in a format that the customers can understand. It's very visual.

It's if you want to really drill down into the details, we can do that as well. So we've got basically executive reports and then we've got detailed reports and we automate all of that for you. So you don't have to worry about it if you don't want to.

Um, so yeah, I'd encourage you to come by and take a look. Now we're going to do a real big switch here. Oh, um, people are starting to learn that I'm the man that evaluates swag.

Absolutely. Usually running around the vendor hall, trying to grab as much as I can without being scanned. And this is, I believe the second conference where somebody has actually come to the booth with swag and somebody did that earlier and you, you didn't come with just swag.

You came with a big old bag. Oh yeah. You ready to start on this? Yeah.

Let's, uh, obviously you, you, you do watch and listen to the show. I do. I'm telling you.

So I got to start, I got to start you easy cause I don't want you to get too excited. Okay. So we do have our little Cavelo hockey water bottle.

There we go. Cause Cavelo is a Canadian company. Speaking of hockey, um, how about them Florida Panthers? I'm a Dallas stars fan.

So I'm hoping you guys beat the, you know what? Well, if we continue playing like they did last night, six to one, a spanking. Yeah, it was a spanking. All right.

So from there, you've got your Cavelo hat. Okay. And I am starting to make a hat wall.

So, well, that's good. That'll be good. Hopefully you've got a sock drawer too, because we do have the Cavelo socks.

So the socks actually make their way up to the cabin in Georgia and everybody, uh, socks are a weird thing. I've been doing this a long time. When the first vendor came out with socks, I was like, who in the hell wants a pair of vendor socks? That's what I said.

I'm like, I'm not taking those things. Yeah, but now I'm taking them. That's all I've got.

I haven't bought socks in forever. All I have are vendor socks. All right.

So now we're, we're, we're moving up a little bit. So those are your staples. All right.

So now this is perfect for your coffee or your bourbon. It's going to keep it hot or cold. All right.

It's a very, I use it all the time. It's a Crossland, uh, so this is a 10 ouncer. Yep.

I can tell. I know my size. Oh, it's a screw.

Yeah. All right. Full stainless steel.

Feels like it's double walled. It is. Okay.

Pretty good stuff. Um, it's not the magnetic tab, but no, but it's still, I'm telling you, I use it for coffee and then at night I usually pour my bourbon in it. Very nice.

Okay. All right. Are you ready? Hope there's more.

Just for you, my friend, just for you, you get your own Cavelo hockey jersey. Get out. Oh, you, okay.

Look at there. Look at that. So I'm buying my way up the swag list here.

You were trying to make an early entrance into the swag of the year. That's our first edition. We're going to come out with a second edition and we're going to start customizing them.

So who knows? You might wind up with a second one that says uncle Mark on the back. Yeah, there we go. Look at that.

Um, this, I did not see this as being available at the booth. Nope. It is not available at the booth.

We give this to our partners and our good friends. And I consider you a good friend. There we go.

And he's going to be a partner soon. I promise. Thank you very much, sir.

All right. So everybody that's watching, cause this will have to become a social media clip. Now, uh, it's a nice swag.

That's how you do it. I've been around. Yeah.

Um, all right, let's finish up with, uh, how Denver's treating you this year. Did you come out early? Uh, a lot of people went hiking for some reason this year. Did you? I did not yet simply because I didn't come out here early.

Um, but I've got three more trips out here to Denver in the next six weeks, I think. Um, and one of those, I've got a one week here. I think I could go home for a day and then come back the next day, but I may just stay straight through that.

Then I'm on do some hiking then. Okay. Um, if I remember correctly, you were doing, you were doing part of the walking thing, right? Were you doing that? Were you doing a morning walk group or something? No.

I mean, I, I walk every day with my dogs, but I don't, I know what you might, you might have seen, I did start a, um, a hiking group on LinkedIn called trail blazing techies. Um, and it's just out there cause I do like to go on hikes, especially when I come out West Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, all that fun stuff. So I kind of put this together just because I had found there's a lot of people in the channel that like to hike.

And there's a lot of people that have said I've never gone hiking. Can you give me some tips? So I said, let's put this group together for people to kind of start sharing tips and photos and, you know, trail advice, different things like that. And it's still in its infancy.

I've only been alive for about a month or two. And I've got a few people, I thought it was something that has been around for a little while, but I knew there was something. No, I just started it.

And it was basically coming to these conferences. People would say, you know, you ought to start a Facebook group or not Facebook, a LinkedIn group. So I did.

Okay. So we'll see if we can get some other people to join. All right.

Sorry for the pause, but a pet aid official is hovering at the booth. I was making sure I'm good. Yeah.

Are we in trouble? Did we do something wrong? Listen, until the sirens go, I don't believe I'm in trouble. Yeah, exactly. Or the robotic dog comes over here and bites us.

Yeah, that is true. All right. Well, Laird, man, thank you for making the trip over.

Thank you for the swag. Thank you, sir. And for those that are interested, Cavelo is the attack surface management product you want to look at with added capabilities and the newly released Configuration Management.

Configuration Management. Yes, sir. So thank you very much.

Laird, we'll be seeing you. And I want to see if you get down tonight. Oh, this could be scary.

This could be scary. Thank you, Uncle Marv. All right.

That's going to do it, folks. I believe we've got two more interviews here at Pat's 8 Beyond. And we're going to close out tonight with a big old party.

And I will not tell you who it is, but you'll hear about it later. So that's it. We'll see you soon.

And until then, holla. Holla.