WhiteDog: Unleashing Cybersecurity

Tonya Gentry:
Hi and welcome to another Partner Playbook. I hope you guys all know me by now, but I'm Tonya Gentry, the Chief Sales Officer for Big Red Media MSP Success. I have the pleasure of speaking with Brian Moody today, who's the Vice President of Global Sales and Channel with WhiteDog Cyber. I'm super excited to have you guys here. I've heard some really cool things about you recently from MSP Success, specifically about your company, so I'm really excited for this conversation today.

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For any of our listeners that may not know about WhiteDog Cyber, can you give us a little bit of background and a brief description of your company?

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Brian Moody:

Certainly. I think the best place to start is to talk about the challenge of the security industry, MSP and partner specific. You could also extrapolate and extend that to customers with respect to implementing modern security infrastructure in their environments today.

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For our partner community, it’s about how they are working with security infrastructure, security tools, staffing, and meeting the challenges of what it takes today to secure a modern enterprise environment. That has dramatically changed in the last five to seven years, especially if you look at the MSP or the MSSP community and who they call on.

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Security environments today are incredibly tool-centric, and this was a challenge we wanted to address. All you hear about is tools, tools, tools. If you talk to any modern CISO, they don’t want another tool. They’re looking for ways to optimize the environment, and just adding another tool is not the solution. However, most companies on this podcast are selling another tool. The challenge is that securing a modern environment today requires an increasing number of tools, which drives up costs related to staffing, managing, implementing, and monitoring them.

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For many of our MSP partners who are not yet MSPs but want to offer security, the barrier to entry has dramatically increased. If you look at the market, two years ago at RSA, everything was focused on the endpoint—endpoint detection and response (EDR) moved to managed detection and response (MDR), and then Palo Alto coined the term XDR (Extended Detection and Response) because they had firewalls and extra telemetry.

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The critical aspect of this is response—your ability to respond to a security event. Many security tools monitor, identify, and notify, but they don’t provide a comprehensive response. We recognized that this approach was too reactive.

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90% of threats come from email. Email gateway solutions are not stopping these threats effectively. When a user clicks a malicious link, it connects to a known bad URL. This means 80% of email threats require DNS or direct IP connections to function. None of the current XDR solutions solve this problem effectively. Instead, they wait for something bad to happen at the endpoint before responding. That’s too late.

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We wanted to address this issue with a proactive approach rather than a reactive one. Traditional security tools monitor, identify, notify, and then execute a response only after something happens—often too late. If you look at major breaches, most attackers have been inside environments for six months or more before detection. So what did we do?

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WhiteDog Cyber created a Security-as-a-Service platform model. We productized security services and created product offerings. But, what we wanted to bring to market was a very quick, simple methodology that our partners could take to market and deliver a 24/7/365, curated security solution. We are not a tool; we are a solution that covers email, internet, network, endpoint, and identity protection and includes 24/7 security operations and continuous incident response as part of our service. It’s not a retainer. It’s not extra. So, WhiteDog has brought full 24/7 security operations, Security-as-a-Service platform to market that is curated and composable. And we deliver all of this in a methodology that can be 100% white-labeled by our partner, implemented inside of 30 days with no implementation fees.

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Tonya Gentry:

Thank you for that. I’m sure our listeners appreciate it. So let’s get into the partner program. That’s what we’re going to talk about today. What are some of the key benefits and features of your program?

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Brian Moody:

So our founder and CEO Shahin Pirooz spent close to 30 years here in Silicon Valley, and we’ve been part of many different channel programs. Not only that, but Shahin founded one of the very first MSPs. In fact, Gartner kind of coined the term for that company, CenterBeam, many years ago. And that knowledge of the MSP community, that knowledge of how our partners work, became a critical aspect of how we developed our partner program.

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So, key aspects. Our partner program is simple. We’ve created a flat, revenue-based partner program that’s easy to engage with. There’s no licensing minimums – our largest customers have tens of thousands of seats, while our smallest has one. So think about our MSP community dealing with 5, 10, 25, 50 person companies. Well, the dynamics of those enterprises are not different today. They’re using SaaS properties, they’re using application as a service, infrastructure as a service. In most cases, they’re mobile. These companies are as dynamic as 100,000 seat companies. And it takes a modern enterprise in order to address those environments.

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We created a program that is easy to consume, no licensing minimums no long-term commits. So if you think about the contracts—again tool-centric mindset, annual contracts, 2-year, 3-year—we hav no annualized contracts from a standpoint of our tool set. The other aspect that we brought to our Channel program is that it's consumption based. So this is how our partners work. This is how the MSP community addresses their customers. And in many cases, they bill monthly. We bill monthly if you want to. If you want to bill quarterly, fantastic.

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And for our larger partners, as we get into some of our solution integration partners, they like to do annualized contracts. So within our partner program we provide an additional discount incentive for doing annualized contracts.

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So the other aspect of our partner program that we thought was critical was, as we sign our partners on, we need to enable them. So for us, it's all about that partner experience. How do we enable them to be able to take white dog to market very quickly? So we provide a 100% white-label free marketing automation platform. Most partners have to invest in marketing, create the content, create the program. We have provided that 100% automated with WhiteDog content that's 100% white-labelable to their brand, their color, their schema, pulled natively from the application, and they can wrap that into 2-week, 4-week, 6-week email campaigns and very quickly market to 10, 15, 20,000 people.

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Tonya Gentry:
You know that we love that. That’s music to our ears.

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Brian Moody:

And we provide that at no cost to our partner community.

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Tonya Gentry:

Before we got on here, we were talking a little bit about the reason why MSP Success is doing this. It’s really to get the partner programs out there to the community. One of the things that I thought was very interesting is you were talking about partner enablement. You guys give partners Gold Standard right from the beginning. You give them all these tools and these benefits. And give them like two years to get everything going. I thought that was really cool.

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Brian Moody:

Correct. We like to start all of our partners at the Gold tier, which is a mid-tier discount. We understand that it’s going to take time to get up and running. So, let’s say you sign now in February 2025. We don’t evaluate that revenue until December of 2026. So we provide that almost 24-month bandwidth. It’s all about enabling the partner. Where we have success, partners that don’t offer any security, we remove the barrier of entry. It’s very expensive for an MSP to deliver security solutions on their own.

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So, if you’re a million-dollar MSP, how do you get to $5M? How do you get to $10M? CEOs and MSP owners are always asking, “How do I get my business to the next level? How do I get into the next industry, the next vertical, or how do I grow my customer base? How do I stay relevant with customers? How do I deal with competition?”

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We feel we have brought to market this productized SaaS program that MSPs can adopt immediately. They don't have to have security experience because we are a co-managed solution and we can 100% manage the solution for them as they come up to speed. But the cost to entry is zero. Really, their investment is zero, and they can immediately begin bringing an enterprise-class solution platform to their customers overnight.

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Tonya Gentry:
Sounds like you guys really have that passion for covering those small businesses out there that don't always have that coverage and being able to empower MSPs. Anything that you guys are enhancing in the partner program this year?

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Brian Moody:

As we came out of 2024, we signed a net new 22 partners to our channel program. Out of that, we had a degree that were transacting, but not to the degree that we wanted to be transacting at. What we recognized was we needed to focus on the partner experience and the enablement of our partners. Our CMO, Kirstin Burke, is building our partner experience framework and the delivery of a seamless customer experience. And it’s two-fold. One is sales enablement, and the other aspect is onboarding and technical enablement.  

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We’ve now introduced and are investing in what we call a Partner Development Manager. So that partner development manager is specifically dedicated to training our partners’ teams on how to go to market, how to talk about the security solution, how to understand our licensing model, how to understand our versions, our pricing, and where and when are the right places and ways to position the platform in the marketplace and with the customer. We are dedicating this resource to help get our partners and their sales staff talk track to a point that they're credible. Because customers need to know that you know what you’re talking about so they have trust and confidence in your ability to protect their company.

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Additionally, we’re introducing our Security Account Manager team to support onboarding. We’ve streamlined the onboarding process, and what we’re finding—especially with partners who haven't previously offered a security solution—is that they often struggle with it. To address this, we're providing additional technical support and resources to our partner community, leveraging WhiteDog’s expertise to make implementing and managing our solution easier from both a sales and deployment perspective.

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Tonya Gentry:
So, when you look at MSPs, what do you typically seek in a partner? And how can MSPs—whether they’re already offering security or just getting started—be successful with you?

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Brian Moody:

We work with a variety of partners, and from my experience managing our partner landscape, they generally fall into four categories:

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MSPs not currently offering security – These are ideal candidates because we offer a fully white-label solution. Our portal is brandable, giving them complete access to our platform. Unlike other tools in the market, we don’t operate as a "black box." We provide full administrative access to our tools, allowing partners to manage the solution themselves or rely on us for co-managed services. For partners new to selling security, we can manage everything on their behalf until they’re technically ready to take over. This means they can start offering a modern, enterprise-level security platform almost overnight.

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MSPs already offering security or MSSPs – These partners often look at WhiteDog Cyber's platform and recognize its economic advantages. We reduce costs by 30% to 60%, allowing them to move away from expensive, siloed security tools as their contracts expire. Our solution is composable and curated, meaning partners can adopt bundled services or individual solutions to fill security gaps. Many MSPs have successfully switched their infrastructure over to WhiteDog, with some seeing significant growth—one partner, for instance, gained 74 new customers in just 14 months.

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Consultative partners – These partners, particularly those in compliance-driven fields, focus on helping customers navigate regulatory frameworks and security controls. Traditionally, they’ve recommended various security tools to meet compliance needs. Now, many are integrating the WhiteDog platform as a complete solution, aligning compliance recommendations with operational security capabilities. This allows them to provide both policy guidance and a robust security implementation.

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Solution integrators – These are not MSPs but rather firms that sell and implement best-in-class OEM technology. Some are taking WhiteDog to market as an independent security solution, while others fully white-label our platform as their own security offering.

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Tonya Gentry:

You mentioned earlier that you're gathering feedback from your partners. What are they saying, particularly about how your solution differentiates itself from traditional security tools?

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Brian Moody:

One of our partners, based in Chicago, is particularly enthusiastic about what we offer. His company serves a specific market with a high-demand solution, and WhiteDog has been a game-changer for them. He sees our platform as a way to take his business to the next level—adding value for his customers, staying relevant, and differentiating himself from competitors.

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This aligns with what we frequently hear from MSPs: How do we stay competitive? How do we continue to add value? Many of them offer IT services but not security, and they’re concerned that customers may start looking for an MSP that provides both. If a competitor can deliver IT and security, why would a customer stick with an MSP that only handles one?

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For partners like the Chicago-based MSP, WhiteDog provides an easy way to break into the security market with minimal investment. It allows them to protect their existing customer base while also expanding into new verticals. In his case, our solution has enabled him to start targeting government contracts, opening up entirely new opportunities.

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Looking ahead to 2025, we’re continuing to innovate and expand our platform. Security isn’t static—staying ahead requires continuous evolution. We're focusing on these key areas:

Identity Security Posture Management (ISPM) – Identity is the top attack vector, providing access, privilege escalation, and lateral movement within networks. We’re enhancing our XDR solution to monitor Active Directory for anomalies—such as new account creation, privilege elevation, or reactivation of high-authority accounts. This capability will later integrate with our Zero Trust Identity (ZTI) solution, allowing automated responses to potential identity-based threats.

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Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) – Using AI, we’ll analyze an organization’s data to determine its risk level, based on what hackers are actively targeting and monetizing. This will help prioritize security measures for high-value data.

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Data Risk Management (DRM) – This new offering will enable partners to encrypt data at rest with a single click, providing an additional layer of protection.

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Additionally, we’re launching Open XDR in 2025. Today, we manage our own toolset, but Open XDR will allow us to integrate with and manage third-party security tools like Sentinel or CrowdStrike. This means MSPs can offer WhiteDog’s security operations while continuing to use their existing security stack. As those tools’ contracts expire, MSPs will also have the opportunity to transition customers to WhiteDog’s offerings.

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Tonya Gentry:
One last question—why the name WhiteDog?

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Brian Moody:
Great question! We actually have a bit of a whiskey fascination here. In the whiskey world, "white dog" refers to the unaged distillate that comes off the mash before it’s aged into whiskey or bourbon. It’s the purest form of the spirit—clear and foundational.

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Our company was built from day one to be a white-label security provider. The concept is similar: WhiteDog Cyber provides the foundational security solution, and partners can brand and customize it as their own—just like distillers age and refine white dog into a finished product.

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Buffalo Trace even sells bottles of White Dog for their Mash #1, #2, #3, and #4. If you visit our booth at an event, you might just find some on display!

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Tonya Gentry:
Brian, thank you so much for sharing your insights. It’s been great learning more about WhiteDog and how you’re helping MSPs stay competitive.

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For our MSP listeners, stay tuned—there’s more to come. And Brian, thanks again for joining us.

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Brian Moody:
Pleasure being here! Thanks for having me.

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We start all partners at the Gold tier, providing 24 months to meet revenue goals without pressure. This allows MSPs, even those new to security, to grow their business at their own pace.

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Tonya Gentry:

That’s fantastic. How does WhiteDog help MSPs who are new to selling security?

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Brian Moody:

We understand that not all MSPs are experienced in security, and that’s why we’ve built a co-managed model that allows MSPs to deliver enterprise-grade security without hiring a full security team. WhiteDog manages the platform 24/7, but partners retain full visibility and control. This way, they can ramp up their security expertise over time while still delivering top-tier protection to their clients.

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For MSPs looking to grow, our program allows them to expand into security without upfront investment or long-term commitments. Whether an MSP is looking to break into security or enhance their current offerings, WhiteDog provides the tools, support, and resources they need to succeed.

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Tonya Gentry:

That makes a lot of sense. One thing I heard about your partner program is that you enable MSPs right away—can you talk about that?

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Brian Moody:

Absolutely. We give MSPs full access to our platform from day one, at the Gold tier, with two years to meet revenue goals. We also provide full training, sales enablement, and technical support to ensure they can start selling security immediately. Our partner development managers work closely with MSPs to ensure they understand the licensing model, pricing structure, and how to position WhiteDog’s solutions in the market.

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Tonya Gentry:

That’s really compelling. Before we wrap up, is there anything exciting coming for WhiteDog in 2025?

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Brian Moody:

Yes! We’re continuing to innovate in three key areas:

1. Identity Security Posture Management – Enhancing monitoring and control over Active Directory security.

2. Data Security Posture Management – Using AI to analyze stolen data trends and prioritize protection.

3. Open XDR – Allowing MSPs to manage existing security tools like SentinelOne and CrowdStrike under one unified platform.

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These enhancements will help our partners deliver even more comprehensive security while simplifying operations.

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Tonya Gentry:

That’s amazing. Thank you, Brian, for joining us and sharing insights into WhiteDog Cyber. And to all our listeners, stay tuned for more episodes of Partner Playbook!

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Brian Moody:

Pleasure to be here. Thank you, Tonya!

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WhiteDog’s partner program is designed to be simple and effective. We don’t have complicated tiers or requirements. There’s No licensing minimums. Our largest customers have tens of thousands of seats, while our smallest customer has one. We have flexible billing – monthly, quarterly, or annual options to match MSPs’ business models.

• 100% white-label, automated marketing platform – MSPs can use our content for free, fully branded to their company.

Additionally, we start all partners at the Gold tier, providing 24 months to meet revenue goals without pressure. This allows MSPs, even those new to security, to grow their business at their own pace.

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How MSPs Are Increasing MRR & Winning More Clients

We’ve seen partners grow significantly with our platform. One MSP switched to WhiteDog and added 74 new customers in 14 months. By offering co-managed security, MSPs can enter new markets and expand their client base without upfront investment.

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New Security Innovations for 2025

As we look ahead, WhiteDog is enhancing security capabilities in three key areas:

1. Identity Security Posture Management – Monitors Active Directory for suspicious activity, providing a zero trust identity framework.

2. Data Security Posture Management – Uses AI to analyze stolen data trends and prioritize protection based on hacker demand.

3. Open XDR – Allows MSPs to integrate and manage existing security tools (e.g., SentinelOne, CrowdStrike) under one unified platform.

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The Story Behind WhiteDog’s Name

The name WhiteDog comes from whiskey distillation. “White Dog” is the clear distillate that becomes whiskey or bourbon after aging. This aligns with our philosophy—WhiteDog provides the core Security-as-a-Service platform, and MSPs can customize and brand it as their own.

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Tonya Gentry:

Sounds like you guys have a real passion for helping MSPs serve small businesses that lack adequate security coverage. Any final thoughts on what’s coming in 2025?

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Brian Moody:

Innovation is key. We’re continuing to plug security gaps, expand our platform, and help MSPs grow. Our focus remains on making security simple, scalable, and effective.

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Tonya Gentry:

That’s amazing. Thank you, Brian, for joining us and sharing insights into WhiteDog Cyber. And to all our listeners, stay tuned for more episodes of Partner Playbook!

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Brian Moody:

Pleasure to be here. Thank you, Tonya!

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