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MDR Security Provider Expel Hires Cisco, RSA Veterans to Drive Revenue, Marketing

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Credit: Expel
Kelly Fielder,
Kelly Fiedler, chief marketing officer, Expel.
Jennifer Lawrence

Expel, a Top 250 MSSP and Top 40 managed detection and response (MDR) security company, has named Jennifer Lawrence as its chief revenue officer (CRO) and Kelly Fiedler as its chief marketing officer.

Lawrence oversees Expel's sales execution and go-to-market strategy, the company said. She has over two decades of experience building and scaling SaaS companies and previously held cybersecurity sales leadership roles at Duo Security and Cisco Secure.

Fiedler leads Expel's marketing team and is expected to drive the business into its next phase of growth, the company indicated. She has over 25 years of technology marketing experience and most recently served as CMO at RSA.

Lawrence and Fiedler will play key roles in helping Expel achieve its business goals in 2022 and beyond, CEO Dave Merkel said. They will amplify Expel's sales and go-to-market activities.

Expel Funding and MDR Business Valuation

Expel CEO Dave Merkel

The Lawrence and Fiedler hires come after Expel in November 2021 secured $140.3 million in Series E funding and increased its valuation to $1.5 billion. Expel is using the funding to invest in product research and development, deliver new capabilities and drive its sales and go-to-market initiatives, the company stated.

Expel provides security monitoring and response for cloud, hybrid and on-premises environments. It offers a security operations center (SOC) that monitors customer environments and looks for security signals. In doing so, the SOC helps customers get the most value out of their existing security investments.

Furthermore, Expel offers the Impact Partner Program. The MSSP also has doubled its technology partner base since 2019, Merkel said.

MDR Security Market Forecast

The market for managed detection and response (MDR) security services will reach $2.2 billion by 2027, which represents a 16.7% CAGR (compound annual growth rate) from 2021, according to Infinity Business Insights.

MSSP Alert believes the market will grow even faster than Infinity Business Insights’ forecast. The reason? Gartner is tracking at least 40 MDR companies that have gained critical mass.

And that Gartner list largely fails to address MDR companies that support MSPs and MSSPs in the SMB sector (names like Blackpoint CyberHuntressNetsurion and Stellar Cyber come to mind). Also of note: More than 90% of MSSPs now offer some form of MDR services, according to the annual Top 250 MSSP survey results for 2021.

Dan Kobialka

Dan Kobialka is senior contributing editor, MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E. He covers IT security, IT service provider business strategies and partner programs. Dan holds a M.A. in Print and Multimedia Journalism from Emerson College and a B.A. in English from Bridgewater State University. In his free time, Dan enjoys jogging, traveling, playing sports, touring breweries and watching football.