Competitive Content
Mandiant reviewed: the engagement practitioners buy
Most IR retainer buyers get the first contract wrong. The SLA looks clear, the fund pool looks flexible, and the sizing feels obvious — until an incident lands and the math stops working. Daniel Carter has run a Mandiant retainer through one live breach and two renewal cycles. This is his honest take on what the engagement actually delivers, where the DFIR bench earns its cost, and which two buyer profiles should save the budget for something else.
DCDaniel C. · Jun 15, 2026