‘The relationship could definitely be better’: UK channel reflects on Qualys QSC EMEA
Partners met with CRN to share their insights from the event and discuss their relationship with the vendor
Qualys MD of EMEA North and South declared the vendor’s desire to deepen partner relationships. But what do its channel firms think?
The provider of cloud-based security has historically been labelled as not channel-friendly.
However, with new leadership, things might be changing.
The vendor reported a ten per cent rise in revenues to $159.9m in Q1 2025.
But are channel partners truly part of its future growth plans?
After speaking with Matt Middleton-Leal, Qualys MD EMEA North and South at QSC EMEA, Qualys’ security conference held in London last week, CRN sat down with Bytes, Cognisys, and Blue Cube Security, to discuss their collaboration with the company, as well as their main takeaways from the event.
Jamal Lawrence, senior cybersecurity solutions specialist, Bytes Software Services
Were there any announcements that surprised you, or anything you were particularly looking forward to that was addressed?
“Yes, I heard about a new addition to the portfolio, something around an insider module.
“And there were talks on the agenda this afternoon about continuous threat exposure management (CTEM).
“That seems to be a big hot topic in the industry right now.
“We’re a reseller, so alongside Qualys, we also engage with their competitors.
“It seems that everyone in the vulnerability management space is developing their own take on CTEM.
“Including that in their messaging and marketing would be really smart; it’s a massive topic, and Qualys has the fundamental building blocks for it.”
What’s your relationship with Qualys; are you a long-time partner? And how do you use their technology?
“We’ve been reselling the platform for several years.
“The relationship could definitely be better.
“Qualys visited our Reading office late last year for a refresher and some channel account managers met with our sales teams.
“That was great, but we’d really benefit from more regular touchpoints, especially since we’ve got teams all over.
“We’re a large organisation, so staying front of mind for our salespeople helps us push Qualys more effectively.”
Do you think that’s the only thing Qualys could improve to help the relationship? Or are there other ways they could support you better?
“Proactivity is key.
“If there’s something they’re doing particularly well at the moment, the key is to make sure we’re aware of it so we can amplify that message to our customer base.
“Being visible within our organisation matters a lot, our salespeople have a million different things they can sell, but if Qualys is in front of them, it stays top of mind.
“It sounds simple, but it makes a big difference.”
Catherine Boddy, head of vulnerability management, Cognisys
Were there any announcements that surprised you, or anything you were particularly looking forward to that was addressed?
“Yes, I was also part of the partner advisory council (PAC), so I was especially looking forward to that.
“I’ve worked with Qualys for several years now, and under the previous CEO, it was clear that the company wasn’t particularly channel-friendly; everything was very direct-focused.
“Since the leadership change, the transformation within Qualys has been fantastic.
“It’s honestly been a pleasure to be part of that shift over the past four to six years.
“For me, QSC this year was probably the best one yet, mainly because of how partner-centric it was, particularly the PAC.
“It was really clear that our feedback was being taken seriously, and that we were finally being heard.”
What’s your relationship with Qualys, are you a long-time partner? And how do you use the technology?
“I’ve worked with Qualys for six years now.
“My previous company used the Qualys Consultant Edition.
“We were acquired by a large corporation, and we went out to tender to find the best solution for our vulnerability management needs.
“That process led us back to Qualys, based on the strength of their scanning technology.
“From there, I helped develop the relationship further - we rolled it out globally across many teams over the last five years.
“Eventually, I became fed up with corporate life, having to go through layers of people just to get a decision made, so I moved to an MSSP here in the UK, with the aim of becoming Qualys’s number one partner in the country.”
Do you think that’s the only thing Qualys could improve to help the relationship? Or are there other ways they could support you better?
“From an education perspective, we’ve done quite a lot of training, which has been good.
“On the other hand, it would be great to have a way to bypass the more generic ‘have you tried turning it off and on again’ level of support and go straight to more advanced help when needed.
“That’s been a consistent issue, but I know they are looking into it.
“From a selling perspective, honestly, I think it’s great.
“If I have questions, they’re always on hand.
“That said, there’s always room for more marketing materials or additional information.
“That kind of support can always be improved a bit more.”
Rob Swainson, director, Blue Cube Security
Were there any announcements that surprised you, or anything you were particularly looking forward to that was addressed?
“I wouldn’t say there were any major surprises.
“We work very closely with Qualys, so we’re kept in the loop quite a bit; there are often a few spoilers through the course of the relationship.
“That said, we were definitely excited about the continued development of External Threat Management (ETM) and the ROC piece.
“Those are areas we’ve been exploring over the last few months, so it’s great to see that maturing.
“The partner session yesterday was fantastic.
“It’s no secret that historically, Qualys didn’t have a clear partner structure or programme.
“It’s really encouraging to see that changing.
“The establishment of the Partner Council and the way they’re now listening to partners, asking us what we want instead of just telling us what’s coming - it’s a huge step forward.”
“Seeing the partner programme start to mature, and knowing the team is actively driving it forward, was really positive.
“And from an MSSP perspective, there were some great announcements around enhancements to the MSSP platform - developments we’ve been asking for and that will help us scale that part of the business.”
What’s your relationship with Qualys, are you a long-time partner? And how do you use the technology?
“We’ve primarily focused on vulnerability management, detection and response (VMDR), like most partners have in recent years.
“We’ve also had a big push into patch management and cybersecurity asset management (CSAM).
“The cloud products are becoming more important too.
“We’re also really interested in the ETM developments - being able to aggregate and correlate data from non-Qualys technologies adds a lot of value.
“The ROC model is also very attractive to us.
“It completely changes the conversation we can have with customers.
“It moves from being about individual vulnerabilities to managing risk more holistically.”
Do you think that’s the only thing Qualys could improve to help the relationship? Or are there other ways they could support you better?
“Well, we always want more margin!
“But on a more serious note, yes, there’s always room for improvement.
“However, the progress that’s been made in the last year, or probably a bit longer, has been significant.
“The level of engagement we’re now seeing is a massive step forward.
“At this stage, it’s about bedding in all the progress that’s been made and really leveraging it, rather than looking too far ahead.
“There’s been a lot of positive movement over the past 18 months.
“Education has been a point of discussion for us.
“We’ve had a lot of technical education from Qualys: training on capabilities, technologies, and services.
“What we’ve needed more of is commercial enablement, more sales-focused training.
“Some of the current messaging dives straight into the technical ‘what’ rather than the ‘why.’
“What we really need is more on the value proposition - why do customers need this technology? Why will they buy it? What business problems does it solve?
“That shift toward more commercially aware, sales-oriented enablement is something we’ve raised - and actually, it was part of the announcements yesterday, so we’re looking forward to seeing that evolve.”